Roma-Lecce 1-0
GOAL: 12′ st Vaz.
ROMA (3-4-2-1): Svilar 6; Mancini 6 (1′ st Ghilardi 6), Ndicka 6.5, Hermoso 7; Rensch 6, Cristante 6, El Aynaoui 6 (6′ st Vaz 7), Tsimikas 5.5 (29′ st Angelino 6); Pisilli 6, Pellegrini 6.5 (34′ st Venturino sv); Malen 6.5 (29′ st Arena 6). On the bench: De Marzi, Gollini, Ziolkowski, El Shaarawy, Zaragoza. Coach: Gasperini 6.
LECCE (4-2-3-1): Falcone 6; Veiga 6, Siebert 6.5, Tiago Gabriel 7, Gallo 5; Ramadani 6 (41′ st Sala sv), Ngom 6; Pierotti 6 (40′ st Helgason sv), Gandelman 5.5 (16′ st Fofana 6), Banda 6 (21′ st N’Dri 6); Stulic 5 (16′ st Cheddira 6). On the bench: Fruchtl, Samooja, Ndaba, Pèrez, Jean, Marchwinski. Coach: Di Francesco 6.
REFEREE: Sacchi di Macerata 6.
NOTES: Clear evening, soil in good condition. Booked: Angelino, Pierotti, Pisilli, Veiga. Corners: 10-2. Recovery time: 2′ st, 4′ st.
Exactly one month after the last time, Roma win again in the championship. In an Olimpico injured by Thursday’s elimination from the Europa League at the hands of Bologna, Gasperini’s team beat Lecce 1-0 and takes Juventus to 54 points in the standings, remaining in the wake of fourth-placed Como. It was the first Italian goal from baby Robinio Vaz to put an end to the Giallorossi’s crisis, forced to do without Kone and Celik, as well as the suspended Wesley and long-term players Soulé, Dybala and Dovbyk. From the 1st minute Malen is the only striker and around him there are only midfielders: Cristante and El Aynaoui in midfield, Pellegrini and Pisilli in the attacking midfield. Roma recorded 74% of ball possession and concentrated almost all of their dangerous potential on the Dutchman’s bursts, barely contained by Tiago Gabriel. In the first half Roma actually found the goal and scored it with Pisilli in the 24th minute, but it was an earlier offside by Pellegrini that nipped the celebration of the newly called up to the national team by Gattuso in the bud. Added to the physical problems is that of Gianluca Mancini (another alarm for the national team), forced to make way for Ghilardi at half-time.
Five minutes later Gasperini recalls El Aynaoui and the Robinio Vaz card is played. The 19-year-old striker immediately split the game as he did against Bologna. This time not with an assist, but with his first goal in the Giallorossi. However, much of the credit goes to Hermoso who pierces the Lecce defense with a penetration and serves a kissing cross for the winning header of the former Marseille player. In the 73rd minute, Lecce came close to equalizing: after a save by Svilar on N’Dri, Pierotti headed in a sure shot but found the sensational save on the line by Hermoso. Gasperini understands that it is time for change. After six months, Angelino sees himself back on the pitch in Serie A (also a stint for him in January with Panathinaikos), welcomed by an ovation at the Olimpico. In attack, however, Roma closed the match with a trident made up of Vaz (19 years old), Venturino (19 years old) and Arena (17 years old). The doubling didn’t happen, but the three points still arrived accompanied by a clean sheet that had been missing since February 22nd during the 3-0 win over Cremonese. Roma showed up at the break keeping the Champions League race alive. Lecce remains in third to last position at 27.