HAMBURG, Germany AS Roma's Brazilian defender Aldair was the inspiration behind the Italian club's 3-0 win over Hamburg in their UEFA Cup third round, second leg tie on Thursday.

The 34-year-old Aldair scored a superb goal from a 29th minute corner to break the deadlock in a tightly contested match and help the Serie A leaders progress to the last 16 with a 4-0 aggregate triumph.

The Italians had already taken the home leg 1-0 a fortnight ago thanks to an embarrassing blunder by goalkeeper Hans-Joerg Butt. He allowed a harmless shot to slip through his hands in the first half in Rome.

Roma showed their progress to the fourth round was fully deserved with two second half goals against the struggling Hamburg side.

Italy international Marco Delvecchio added the second in the 58th minute and Walter Samuel sealed the win two minutes later.

"We played very well," said Roma Coach Fabio Capello.

The home crowd of 48,500 was unable to inspire Hamburg who looked lethargic and increasingly ill at ease after falling behind.

Their best chance came in the sixth minute when Andre Panadic's powerful header was kept out by Roma goalkeeper Cristiano Lupatelli.

Hamburg have now suffered six consecutive defeats in all competitions.

"It was quite evident that Roma were better than us in a lot of areas," said Hamburg Coach Frank Pagelsdorf.

"But we can learn a lot from this match. We controlled the ball more but Roma were more clever and more effective in front of goal.

(Reuter)