Soccer Football - Champions League - Group Stage - Group G - CSKA Moscow v AS Roma - Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Russia - November 7, 2018 CSKA Moscow's Arnor Sigurdsson scores their first goal REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
MOSCOW (Reuters) - AS Roma put themselves on the brink of a place in the Champions League knockout stage when Lorenzo Pellegrini's first goal in the competition gave them a 2-1 win at 10-man CSKA Moscow on Wednesday.
The game was settled in a four-minute spell in the second half when CSKA, having just made it 1-1, had Hordor Magnusson sent off and Pellegrini grabbed a fortuitous winner for the Serie A side.
Roma, who completed a double over the Russian side in Group G, have nine points from four games while CSKA have four. Real Madrid (six points) were away to Viktoria Plzen (1) later on Wednesday.
Soccer Football - Champions League - Group Stage - Group G - CSKA Moscow v AS Roma - Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Russia - November 7, 2018 CSKA Moscow's Jaka Bijol in action with Roma's Edin Dzeko REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
Roma, semi-finalists last season, went ahead through Kostas Manolas' header in the fourth minute, and Alessandro Florenzi and Edin Dzeko wasted chances to put them further ahead before the break.
CSKA sounded a warning just before halftime when Georgi Shchennikov headed over with the goal at his mercy.
They levelled six minutes after the restart when Ilzat Akhmetov burst into the penalty area and found Arnor Sigurdsson, and the Icelandic teenager fired past Robin Olsen.
Soccer Football - Champions League - Group Stage - Group G - CSKA Moscow v AS Roma - Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Russia - November 7, 2018 CSKA Moscow's Rodrigo Becao and Kirill Nababkin in action with AS Roma's Justin Kluivert REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin
Magnusson was sent off five minutes later for tripping Justin Kluivert and Roma quickly took advantage.
Bryan Cristante's mishit shot landed at the feet of Pellegrini and the 22-year-old, who has already provided three assists in the group, beat Igor Akinfeev from a narrow angle as the CSKA defence claimed offside.
Soccer Football - Champions League - Group Stage - Group G - CSKA Moscow v AS Roma - Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Russia - November 7, 2018 Roma's Steven Nzonzi in action with CSKA Moscow's Ilzat Akhmetov REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
(Writing by Brian Homewood,; Editing by Neville Dalton)
Soccer Football - Champions League - Group Stage - Group G - CSKA Moscow v AS Roma - Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Russia - November 7, 2018 AS Roma's Lorenzo Pellegrini scores their second goal REUTERS/Sergei KarpukhinSoccer Football - Champions League - Group Stage - Group G - CSKA Moscow v AS Roma - Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Russia - November 7, 2018 CSKA Moscow's Igor Akinfeev during the match after fans let off flares in the stands REUTERS/Sergei KarpukhinSoccer Football - Champions League - Group Stage - Group G - CSKA Moscow v AS Roma - Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Russia - November 7, 2018 AS Roma's Lorenzo Pellegrini in action with CSKA Moscow's Ilzat Akhmetov REUTERS/Maxim ShemetovSoccer Football - Champions League - Group Stage - Group G - CSKA Moscow v AS Roma - Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Russia - November 7, 2018 Roma's Alessandro Florenzi shoots at goal REUTERS/Maxim ShemetovSoccer Football - Champions League - Group Stage - Group G - CSKA Moscow v AS Roma - Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Russia - November 7, 2018 AS Roma's Nicolo Zaniolo in action with CSKA Moscow's Rodrigo Becao REUTERS/Sergei KarpukhinSoccer Football - Champions League - Group Stage - Group G - CSKA Moscow v AS Roma - Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Russia - November 7, 2018 AS Roma's Lorenzo Pellegrini celebrates scoring their second goal with Justin Kluivert REUTERS/Sergei KarpukhinSoccer Football - Champions League - Group Stage - Group G - CSKA Moscow v AS Roma - Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Russia - November 7, 2018 AS Roma's Kostas Manolas scores their first goal REUTERS/Maxim ShemetovSoccer Football - Champions League - Group Stage - Group G - CSKA Moscow v AS Roma - Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Russia - November 7, 2018 CSKA Moscow's Arnor Sigurdsson celebrates scoring their first goal REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin
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