Roma Put Three Past Shakhtar in Europa League Round of 16

Assi di Coppe, Europa League, European Cups, Manchester United, Roma, Serie A

In the first leg of the Europa League Round of 16, Roma hosted the champions of Ukraine, Shakhtar Donetsk, at the Stadio Olimpico. Both teams surged into the last 16 following their solid performances in the previous round, with Roma cruising past Sporting Braga from Portugal, while Shakhtar got the better of the Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv.

It turned out to be a joyful night in Rome for the home side, with Paulo Fonseca’s men claiming a stunning 3-0 win over Shakhtar thanks to the goals from Lorenzo Pellegrini, Stephan El Shaarawy and Gianluca Mancini.

The opening minutes of the game belonged to Roma, with the home side often attempting to exploit Shakhtar’s high defensive line by playing long balls over the top. Nevertheless, despite the risky tactics deployed by the visitors, Roma’s forwards were unable to time their runs and found themselves breaching the offside rule on most occasions.

After spending the first few minutes mainly trying to contain Roma, Shakhtar replied with a swift attacking move. Taison collected a diagonal pass on the left flank and played a quick one-two with Marlos, who laid the ball back to his Brazilian teammate, but Taison’s low drive went straight down the middle and forced a comfortable save from Pau Lopez.

It was followed with an immediate response on the other end of the pitch, with Roma’s left wing-back Leonardo Spinazzola sending a beautiful cross into the penalty area, but the opposition’s defense managed to clear the ball to safety.

Pellegrini whipped the ball in from the corner kick, and Gonzalo Villar had a great chance to open the score for Roma as he struck the ball towards the bottom left corner, but to his disappointment, Anatolii Trubin pulled off a fine save to deny the midfielder.

Over the next ten minutes, the game dynamics did not change much as Roma continued playing long balls in behind Shakhtar’s defense but with little success. On the other hand, the Ukrainian side tried to play their way through Roma’s first and second line of press but were often prevented from entering the attacking third, as they simply could not find the gaps to play through.

However, after a number of unsuccessful attempts trying to beat Shakhtar’s offside trap, Roma finally found their way through the opposition defense in the 23rd minute of the game. It started with Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who laid the ball of to Pedro, with the Spaniard slipping through a clever pass to Pellegrini. The Rome-born player moved inside the box, went round the keeper and placed a delightful shot into the bottom left corner to make it 1-0 to Roma.

After conceding, the visitors had a short spell of possession when they tried to apply more pressure on the home side, and it nearly paid dividends. Junior Moraes ran onto a loose ball inside the box and released a powerful shot low towards the middle of the goal. However, Pau Lopez anticipated the shot and made a fine save to deny the Brazilian.

Moments later, it was Roma’s turn to reply, and Mkhitaryan nearly made it 2-0 following a poor clearance from Shakhtar’s goalkeeper Trubin. The midfielder got the ball from a rebound and tried his luck with a good long-range shot which sailed just over the crossbar. However, a minute later, the Armenian international picked up an injury and had to be subbed off with ten minutes remaining in the first half.

The final minutes of the first interval were fairly unadventurous, with neither Roma nor Shakhtar able to threaten the opposing goal.

In the second half, Shakhtar came out strong. The Ukrainian side started by pressing high up the pitch, and immediately their efforts nearly paid off. Junior Moraes did well to control a pass on the edge of the box, but his shot towards the bottom left corner was saved by Pau Lopez.

Moments later, Shakhtar were on the attack again as Tete made a good run down the right-wing, which got him into the box, but his powerful shot was blocked by Mancini.

After a promising 15 minutes when Shakhtar had a couple of decent chances to level the score but failed to convert them, the Ukrainian champions were almost punished on the other end.

Rick Karsdorp played a through ball down the right-wing, which found Pellegrini, with the Italian delivering a fabulous low cross into the path of El Shaarawy. Roma’s comeback player connected with a pass inside the box, but his shot was straight at Trubin.

Nevertheless, ten minutes later, the Italian did not make the same mistake in fluffing his lines and gave Roma a 2-0 lead with a remarkable solo goal. Borja Mayoral played a lovely through ball to El Shaarawy, who found himself one-on-one with Shakhtar’s center-back Vitao and left him completely dead for pace. He dribbled into the box and perfectly dunk the ball over the goalkeeper and into the net.

In the 77th minute, Roma got their third goal of the night, with Mancini heading the ball into the net from the corner past Shakhtar’s goalkeeper Trubin. A comfortable 3-0 victory at home means Roma can already have one eye on the Quarter Finals.

 


MATCH REPORT

March 11, 2021 – Europa League 2020-2021 Round of 16
ROMA-SHAKHTAR DONETSK 3-0

SCORER: 23′ Pellegrini, 73′ El Shaarawy, 77′ Mancini

ROMA (3-4-2-1): Pau Lopez; Mancini, Cristante, Kumbulla; Karsdorp, Diawara (79′ Ibañez), Villar, Spinazzola (78′ Bruno Peres); Pellegrini (78′ Carles Perez), Pedro (62′ El Shaarawy); Mkhitaryan (35′ Borja Mayoral) (Mirante, Fuzato, Smalling, Santon, Calafiori, Dzeko) Coach: Fonseca
SHAKHTAR DONETSK (4-3-2-1): Trubin; Dodò, Matvienko, Vitao, Ismaily; Patrick (79′ Sudakov), Maycon; Tete (88′ Konoplyanka), Marlos (88′ Marcos Antonio), Taison (79′ Solomon); Moraes (75′ st Dentinho) (Pyatov, Shevchenko, Kornienko, Kryvtsov, Bondar, Bolbat, Vyunnyk) Coach: Luis Castro

REFEREE: Artur Dias (Portugal)
NOTES: Yellow Cards: Kumbulla, Mancini (R), Patrick, Maycon, Taison (S); Extra Time: 1st Half 2′, 2nd Half 4′

Related posts:

  1. Roma Humble Braga to Book Place in Europa League Round of 16
  2. Roma Advance to Europa League Quarter Finals After Win in Ukraine
  3. Roma Come from Behind to Shock Ajax at the Johann Cruijff ArenA
  4. Ajax Scare Roma but Dzeko Pushes Giallorossi to Europa League Semis