By Gennady Fyodorov
Reuters
Tuesday, October 16, 2001; 3:25 PM

_____Champions League_____ Draws/Tables/Fixtures: • First Phase _____Results_____ Matchday 4 • Group A Anderlecht 0, Real Madrid 2 Lokomotiv Moscow 0, Roma 1 • Group B Borussia Dortmund 2, Boavista 1 Dynamo Kiev 1, Liverpool 2 • Group C Arsenal 2, Panathinaikos 1 Real Mallorca 0, Schalke 4 • Group D Galatasaray 0, Nantes 0 Lazio 2, PSV Eindhoven 1

MOSCOW, Oct 16 — Injury-hit AS Roma battled to a 1-0 win against Lokomotiv Moscow in their Champions League group A first stage match on Tuesday to move a step closer to qualifying for the second phase.

Brazilian winger Cafu was credited with the 78th-minute winner after his long-range drive deflected off Lokomotiv defender Igor Cherevchenko, sending keeper Ruslan Nigmatullin the wrong way.

The result, on a cold Moscow night, virtually dashed the Russians' hopes of making it into the second round.

Both teams had their chances.

"We played a very good game against strong opponents and I'm more than happy with the outcome," said smiling Roma coach Fabio Capello. "Both teams played to win, but in my view, a draw would have been a fairer result for both sides."

The Italian champions, who were missing Vincenzo Montella, Marco Delvecchio, Brazilian Aldair and French wing back Vincent Candela through injuries, dominated the first half.

Gabriel Batistuta twice tested Nigmatullin from long range, but the Russian international was equal to the task.

The Argentine striker, who was closely followed by Cherevchenko throughout the match, brought another fine save from Nigmatullin from a 20-metres freekick shortly after the interval.

Capello said he was particularly impressed with Batistuta, who missed Roma's 0-0 draw with Perugia last Saturday due to suspension..

LOT OF CREDIT

"He gave everything he had, fought for every ball, but I don't want to praise just one player," the coach said. "The whole team deserve a lot of credit for tonight's performance."

Despite conceding an unlucky goal, Nigmatullin impressed ahead of his anticipated move to Roma's arch-rivals Lazio at the end of the year.

Lokomotiv coach Yuri Syomin said: "I'm satisfied with the way we played, but of course, not the result. We had our chances but Roma's experience paid in the end."

Lokomotiv came close on several occasions. Sergei Ignashevich had the best chance in the first half, but his close-range header from Marat Izmailov's corner was saved by Francesco Antonioli.

The Roma keeper also made a fine save from a Jakob Lekhetho shot just before Cafu's winner.

"Obviously our young players, like Izmailov and (Ruslan) Pimenov need to mature a bit more for us to do well in such a competition as the Champions League," Syomin acknowledged.

Real Madrid, who were playing Anderlecht later on Tuesday, still lead the group with a perfect three wins from three matches record.

Roma improved to seven points from four games but Lokomotiv remain bottom-of-the-table with just one point from four matches.