AS Roma and AC Florence went toe-to-toe late on Sunday evening – and ended up drawing 1-1. But much more had happened in between: an early lead, two sending-offs against the home Giallorossi, a grinning José Mourinho and goalkeeper Rui Patricio
Since the start of the season, Roma coach José Mourinho has had to deal with a constant stream of absentees – but now, on this 15th Serie A matchday, his squad was complete apart from the potential regulars and long-term injuries to Smalling, Abraham and Kumbulla. After the recent 2:1 win at Sassuolo Calcio, which was once again achieved with late goals, this should of course be enough for the next victory.
And lo and behold: led by the top duo of Dybala and Lukaku, who are currently healthy, the Giallorossi put in a strong performance against the visitors from Florence – coached by Vincenzo Italiano and who recently won 4:1 in the round of 16 after a great show of strength. E. in the last 16 of the Coppa Italia against Parma – got off to a strong start. Beautiful combination included: After a jagged one-two between Dybala and Cristiante, the former crossed directly inside with the outside of his foot, where Lukaku asserted himself and only had to head home from close range – 1:0 in the 5th minute
Dybala misses, Dybala has to go down
As Roma’s figurehead, the brilliant provider of assists continued to show a lot: Dybala was whirling, always playable, tricky and had the 2:0 on his feet in the 14th minute. However, after a well-considered assist from Zalewski, the Argentinian world champion shot too inaccurately from a central position – narrowly missing to the right.
This was followed by the first chance for the visitors from Tuscany (14th minute, striker Nzola failed to get past keeper Rui Patricio after Bonaventura’s chip), before Dybala moved into the center again. This time, however, it was unfortunate: the technician twisted his ankle in a tackle (23′), injured his left hamstring and shortly afterwards had to leave the field injured for joker Azmoun (25′).
There was not much more playful action until the break. The simple reason for this was that the Romans pulled back considerably and managed the narrow lead with typical Mourinho defensive work. The Viola failed to show enough spirit to break the deadlock. Only after a serious build-up mistake by Mancini did things move quickly, but Bonaventura’s finish was too imprecise (45.+4).
Florence get up
All in all, the 1:0 score at the break was fine at this point – and was even more so when the home side set the tone straight after the restart. However, Zalewski was unable to get the ball accurately to Pellegrini in the center after winning the ball well (46′), before Mancini’s close-range effort was saved by AC goalkeeper Terracciano (53′).
This was followed by a period in which the Florentines were more dominant and more powerful. Veteran Bonaventura kicked things off, the 34-year-old firing the ball against the crossbar (63′). The visitors from Tuscany were then even more on the advance when Roma defender Zalewski, who had already been cautioned, tactically brought down Kayode and was sent off (64′) and only shortly afterwards defender Martinez Quarta rose irresistibly and perfectly dinked his subsequent header into the corner to make it 1-1 (66′).
After Lukaku’s red: Roma brace themselves against the double deficit
Curious: In the final minutes, Fiorentina were even allowed to push forward with double superior numbers because Lukaku was shown a straight red for a hard tackle on Kouamé (87′). Roma coach Mourinho could only shake his head and grin in the direction of referee Antonio Rapuano – and encourage his few outfield players to defend passionately. However, the Roman “gladiators” followed this order impressively – and really didn’t allow much more. Only goal-scorer Martinez Quarta managed to get himself into the heights of the “Eternal City” once more, but was denied by goalkeeper Rui Patricio (82′).
Despite a lengthy injury stoppage for Rui Patricio, the referee then blew his whistle on time with seven minutes of stoppage time remaining – and caused further discussion. The result: Florence defender Milenkovic also saw red
So Roma ultimately saved a 1:1 draw over the 90 minutes, defended fourth place in the Serie A table – and will face Sheriff Tiraspol in the final Europa League group game next Thursday (9pm). Then, in a long-distance duel with league leaders Slavia Prague (two points more), it will be decided who takes first place at the end and goes straight into the round of 16. Florence, still slightly behind the international ranks, will play Ferencvaros Budapest in the Conference League hours earlier (18:45).
