Roma manager Daniele De Rossi praised Artem Dovbyk’s performance on his Giallorossi debut following a tepid 0-0 draw against Cagliari. It wasn’t a dream Serie A start for the Ukraine international as De Rossi’s team struggled to dominate the game at the Unipol Domus.
Dovbyk joined Roma from Girona for a club-record fee of €38 million following a stellar La Liga campaign last term. The 27-year-old topped the goalscoring charts in Spain’s top flight in 2023/24, racking up 24 goals to inspire the Catalan minnows to their first-ever Champions League qualification.
Roma understandably identified Dovbyk as an ideal long-term solution for a center-forward role after failing to renew Romelu Lukaku’s loan from Chelsea. However, the Ukrainian’s first outing in the Giallorossi shirt didn’t go as planned. Though he showed glimpses of his talent in the second half, the first 45 minutes were nothing short of disappointing.
Yet, De Rossi believes Dovbyk will deliver, backing him to succeed at Roma.
“In the first half, it wasn’t an easy game for him because we kicked a lot and not where we wanted to,” the Roma boss told DAZN, as relayed by Gianluca Di Marzio. “In the second half, I think he did very well, he held onto many balls and almost scored. I have the feeling he will score many goals.”
It wasn’t Dovbky’s fault he fired a blank on his Serie A debut. Roma couldn’t find a formula to break down Davide Nicola’s stubborn defensive set-up and had to settle for a scoreless stalemate at the beginning of De Rossi’s first ‘full’ season in charge.
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