Tag: Roma

Donyell Malen hit a hat-trick as Roma revived their fading European hopes by cruising past Serie A’s bottom club, Pisa, 3-0 on Friday.

Roma, thrashed by runaway leaders Inter Milan in the last round, regained ground in the race for a top-four place.

“We had a great reaction, and it wasn’t easy because the second half in Milan was very disappointing,” said Roma coach Gian Piero Gasperini.

His team moved level with Juventus, who are in fifth place, and one point behind Como in fourth. Como host Inter on Sunday. Juventus visit seventh-place Atalanta on Saturday.

“We’re still there, and now we should be rooting for Atalanta and Inter. We’re giving it our all to reach the Champions League,” said Gasperini.

Pisa remained anchored to the foot of the table.

Malen scored with all three of host Roma’s shots on goal as he took his total to 10 in 12 Serie A appearances since joining on loan from Aston Villa in January.

In the third minute, two visiting players had a chance to intercept a Roma punt forward, but Antonio Caracciolo could only knee the ball into Malen’s pass.

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The Dutch attacker sidestepped one more defender before firing home.

“Serie A matches are never easy; they become so if you break the deadlock after three minutes,” said Gasperini.

Lorenzo Pellegrini hit the angle of post and bar with a free kick before helping set up Malen’s second in the 43rd minute.

After Pisa repeatedly failed to clear, Devyne Rensch, who has yet to score in Serie A, picked up a loose ball in the box, played a one-two with Pellegrini and then poked a pass to Malen, who rolled in from close range.

Malen completed his hat-trick after 51 minutes, running onto a through pass from Matias Soule, turning away from two defenders and driving the ball home.

“He’s incredibly valuable,” said Gasperini of Malen.

“But if you play for Borussia Dortmund and in the Premier League as a young player, you’re bound to have significant resources.

“The central striker role was the key to convincing him to come to Roma.”

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Bayer Leverkusen are through to the Europa League final 4-2 on aggregate after a stoppage-time goal from Josip Stanisic snatched a 2-2 draw at home on Thursday, extending their unbeaten run to a record 49 games.

In a rematch of last season’s Europa League semi-final, Roma came to Leverkusen 2-0 down after the first leg but levelled the tie-up despite having little possession thanks to penalties in each half from Leandro Paredes.

With the tie heading for extra time, Alex Grimaldo curled in a corner which goalie Mile Svilar failed to catch, the ball going into the net after bouncing off Roma defender Gianluca Mancini.

Stanisic then kept Leverkusen’s stunning record of late goals alive by scoring on the counter in the seventh minute of added time, breaking Benfica’s European unbeaten record dating back to 1965.

“We had chances to score goals early and didn’t — but hey we will in Dublin,” Leverkusen boss Alonso told RTL.

“It was a special evening. There were tense moments but it showed the personality and the mentality of the team.”

“We didn’t know ourselves how we were 2-0 behind,” Leverkusen midfielder Granit Xhaka said.

“To come back against a team like this is unbelievable — our desire is incredible. We’re in the final, we’re on our way to making our dream a reality and will do everything to bring the trophy back to Leverkusen.”

Bundesliga champions Leverkusen will meet Atalanta, who beat Marseille 3-0 (4-1 on aggregate), in the Europa League final in Dublin on May 22 with hopes of a remarkable treble still alive.

Alonso again mixed things up tactically and made six changes including surprisingly leaving star attackers Florian Wirtz, Victor Boniface and former Roma striker Patrik Schick on the bench, instead leading the line with Adam Hlozek.

The changes did not impact Leverkusen’s rhythm as the hosts exploded onto the pitch, carving Roma up with creative, fluid movement.

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Roma by contrast brought the fight and tried to unsettle the Bundesliga champions, picking up four yellow cards inside the opening 30 minutes.

Exequiel Palacios was the target for much of Roma’s roughhousery but the Argentinian World Cup winner almost had revenge after 29 minutes when his low shot hit the inside of the post and came close to bouncing in off goalkeeper Svilar’s back.

Svilar produced a spectacular double save to keep out shots from Amine Adli and Hlozek on the 38-minute mark.

Roma sent a long ball up the other end and within moments the referee pointed to the spot after Roma’s Bayer Leverkusen loanee Sardar Azmoun went down in a tussle with Jonathan Tah.

Palacios’ Argentinian teammate Paredes sent the ball down the middle and Roma were 1-0 up and back into the tie just before half-time.

The second half began like the first, with Leverkusen unable to make their dominance count on the scoreboard — before Roma won another spot-kick, this time via VAR for a handball against Hlozek.

Paredes scored again, sending the ball left to take a two-goal lead in the match and level the tie.

Roma held on for dear life and went to the ground frequently to hold onto the lead, reminiscent of their performance at the same venue in last year’s semi-final which netted a 0-0 draw and a spot in the final.

Roma coach Daniele De Rossi was proud of his side and said: “We played a heroic game — they’re strong. We tried but had few shots. The lads played an incredible game.”

But with nine minutes remaining, Leverkusen won another corner which Grimaldo swung through the hands of goalie Svilar, who clattered into Chris Smalling, the ball then bouncing in off the face of Mancini.

Roma pushed forward hoping to send things to extra time but Bayern loanee Stanisic hit the Italians on the counter, sending his team-mates sprinting from the bench and keeping his side’s season-long unbeaten run alive.

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Bayer Leverkusen have one foot in the Europa League final after winning 2-0 at Roma on Thursday to extend their remarkable unbeaten run to 47 matches.

Goals in each half from Florian Wirtz and Robert Andrich ensured victory for Xabi Alonso’s men in the Italian capital and gave the Bundesliga champions a great chance of reaching the final in Dublin later this month.

Leverkusen will meet either Atalanta or Marseille in Ireland should they hold out in Germany next week, and on the evidence of their performance in Rome, they will be firm favourites to win their first European trophy since the old UEFA Cup in 1988.

Alonso’s team have needed a string of last-gasp goals to keep their unbeaten run going in recent weeks but there was no need for any frantic finishes in the Italian capital as Leverkusen’s superiority was fully on display.

“We had a lot of chances to score a third but they also had a good chance to cut the deficit right at the end. We’re happy with the result,” Alonso told reporters.

“We fought hard, played very well and were very disciplined. For us that means a lot but we still have a lot to do.”

Roma face a huge task if they are to reach a third European final in as many years after barely troubling Matej Kovar’s goal after Romelu Lukaku struck the woodwork early on.

But Daniele De Rossi’s team would have had a lifeline had substitute Tammy Abraham not headed over in front of an open goal deep in stoppage time.

“We played against a good team and if you go behind against them it becomes very difficult,” De Rossi told Sky. “We’ve managed to score early in games before and get things going our way. Let’s say it was a bit different tonight.”

“We had an incredible chance right at then end which would have given us a different outlook for the return leg.”

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Roma are also in a dogfight to reach next season’s revamped Champions League in Serie A while Leverkusen remains on course for a Bundesliga, German Cup and Europa League treble.

Leverkusen started with Victor Boniface and former Roma man Patrik Schick on the bench as Alonso, who is gunning for an unbeaten season, started with a conservative line-up.

It was a cagey affair until Lukaku headed onto the crossbar in the 22nd minute after Leandro Paredes did brilliantly to bring down an overhit corner and hook the ball back for the Belgium forward.

Moments later the away fans briefly roared with celebration as Jeremie Frimpong slipped clean through a dozing Roma backline and lifted his finish into the side netting.

But the Leverkusen fans didn’t have to wait long to see their side take the lead, and it was another Roma slip-up which allowed it to happen in the 28th minute.

Rick Karsdorp cleaned up after Chris Smalling misjudged a header but his weak back pass allowed Alejandro Grimaldo to set up Wirtz for a simple finish.

The hosts were lucky not to be two down five minutes later when Frimpong flashed wide from a great position.

Roma looked shaky every time Leverkusen came forward and after Smalling gave away a cheap corner under pressure from Amine Adli the home defence left Piero Hincapie free to head over the bar six minutes after the break.

Bryan Cristante lanced a great chance wide from Paulo Dybala’s corner but Roma’s fans were finally deflated in the 73rd minute by Andrich’s brilliant strike which put the tie firmly in Leverkusen’s hands.

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