Como-Roma 2-1
GOALS: 7′ pt Malen (pen.); 14′ st Douvikas, 34′ st Diego Carlos.
COMO (3-4-2-1): Butez 7; Ramon 7, Diego Carlos 7, Kempf 6 (1′ st Douvikas 7); Smolcic 7, Sergi Roberto 6 (1′ st Diao 7), Da Cunha 7 (43′ st Van der Brempt sv), Valle 7; Caqueret 6.5 (22′ st Perrone 6.5), Baturina 6.5; Nico Paz 6.5 (32′ st Rodriguez 6.5). On the bench: Tornqvist, Vigorito, Cavlina, Goldaniga, Morata, Lahdo, Moreno, Kuhn, Vojvoda. Coach: Fabregas 7.
ROMA (3-4-2-1): Svilar 6; Ghilardi 6, Mancini 5, Hermoso 5 (25′ st Ziolkowski sv); Celik 6 (25′ st Tsimikas 5), Cristante 5.5, Kone 6, Wesley 4.5; Pellegrini 5.5 (22′ st Pisilli 5), El Shaarawy 6.5 (11′ st Rensch 5.5); Malen 6.5 (22′ st Vaz 5.5). On the bench: De Marzi, Gollini, Angelino, El Aynaoui, Venturino, Zaragoza. Coach: Gasperini 5.
REFEREE: Massa di Imperia 5.
NOTES: rainy evening; playing field in good condition. In the 20th minute Wesley was sent off for a second yellow card. Booked: Caqueret, Diego Carlos, Ghilardi. Corners: 7-1 for Como. Recovery: 2′; 5′.
Como won the Champions League play-off against Roma 2-1 and took fourth place alone with 54 points, one more than Juventus and three more than the Giallorossi, who were left with 10 men in the second half due to the double yellow against Wesley. The goals from Douvikas and Diego Carlos were decisive, overturning Malen’s initial goal (on a penalty). The summary of the match is in the numbers: twenty-two shots from Como. Three from Roma, in an offensive emergency with Soulé, Dybala, Dovbyk and Ferguson out of the game. However, Como’s supremacy is in all sectors of the pitch, not just in attack. Mindful of the lesson of the first leg, when his players were suffocated by the Giallorossi’s pressure, Fabregas adds one more variable to the enigma of Gasperinian duels and man-marking. Ramon – who was the protagonist of a heated face-to-face match with the much booed Mancini at the Olimpico – is a defender on paper, but in fact he is an added centre-forward capable of offering a direct alternative solution to building from the bottom.
In fact, after seven minutes Roma punished the Larians’ dribbling: El Shaarawy stole the ball from Diego Carlos and was fouled in the area. Referee Massa points to the spot and from eleven meters Malen scores what is his seventh goal in nine games. However, Roma are also not free from mistakes. On the other hand, only Juventus and Inter recorded more offensive recoveries than the teams on the pitch at Sinigaglia. This is demonstrated by Smolcic who in the 15th minute recovers the ball and immediately verticalizes it for Nico Paz, author of a shot that Svilar manages to neutralize with a dive. The Argentine playmaker came close to scoring in injury time too with a high shot following an invitation from Caqueret. However, the best opportunity of the first half came from Ramon himself who in the 38th minute filled the area and from da Cunha’s cross he finished just wide, just touching the post. At half-time Fabregas changes: Sergi Roberto and Kempf out, Diao and Douvikas in. It is the Greek center forward who equalizes the score in the 59th minute: from Valle’s through ball he mocks the deployed defense and pierces a Svilar who is anything but blameless. The match changes and becomes further complicated for Roma with the expulsion of Wesley in the 65th minute for a double yellow card for a foul on Diao and with Celik’s injury (on Tsimikas) in the 70th minute.
Everything is set for Como’s 2-1: Svilar saves Smolcic’s shot but can’t do anything on Diego Carlos’s winning tap as he gives himself a gift for his 33rd birthday. In the final there was also room for a crossbar hit by Da Cunha, one of the best on the pitch. It ends like this. With the Como Champions shot. For Roma, however, a misstep that could reduce their ambitions in the championship, awaiting the second act of the Europa League against Bologna.