Scolari settles for winning ugly

Luiz Felipe Scolari accepted Chelsea's 1-0 victory over Roma was hardly a thing of beauty but three vital Champions League points was more than adequate compensation for the Brazilian boss.

A headed winner from captain John Terry in the 77th minute, his first home goal since August 2006, settled a game in which Roma had stubbornly refused to cave in. The win keeps Chelsea on top of Group A and favourites to reach the next phase.

"The most important thing about the game was the result," said Scolari. "I told the players beforehand that this would be a tactical game."

He added: "We needed to be calm and tried to score the first goal. After that, it would give us more space for us to use. I said it would be a game between two beautiful teams. Sometimes 1-0 is more important than 5-0 because you need to respect the other team.

"I don't think it was a beautiful game, but people who know football will know the players played very well.

"The team that won was the side that had one chance more. If they had scored the first goal, maybe they would have won. It wasn't a beautiful game, but we played a good game and so did Roma."

Scolari was delighted that Terry had struck the winner and admitted that during his time as Portugal manager, he was afraid of the England captain's ability to cause panic in the penalty area.

"When I was in Portugal and we played against England, I was afraid when Terry came up into our area at corner kicks. I said to my players, 'look, this player is decisive. We need to look at him because, if he touches the ball, it's dangerous for us'.

"Now I'm here and I tell Terry to go up there. Just as I expected when he was against us, now I want him to do that for us. He got to the ball and it was a big moment for us.

"I think we need three more points. We have three more games and need three more points. But it was important to win. When we play against Roma in Rome, I think they'll play a different style than they did and we will have more chances."