Roma put in an abject display in Bergamo on Monday night as their top four finish took a hit after suffering a 3-1 defeat away to Atalanta. Mario Pasalic and Rafael Toloi would put the hosts two goals ahead before Lorenzo Pellegrini drew a goal back for the Giallorossi. However, a catastrophic error by Rui Patricio would allow Teun Koopmeiners to restore Atalanta’s two-goal advantage just a minute later and seal an important win towards their European qualification.
Mario Pasalic gave Atalanta the lead in the 39th minute as he hit the ball perfectly on the volley after an excellent cross by Duvan Zapata. The Giallorossi started to impose themselves more on the game after the restart but never really troubled Marco Sportiello in net for the home side, before Rafael Toloi doubled the lead with a header. Jose Mourinho’s side never really looked comfortable in the match here as they suffered a deserved defeat.
Patricio’s error was key which axed any hope of a comeback, whilst Pellegrini’s efforts ended up being for nothing as they dropped points here. So, here’s our Roma player ratings for their 3-1 loss away to Atalanta.
Roma: (3-4-2-1)
Rui Patricio – 2
Made an awful blunder straight after Pellegrini had clawed his side back in the game.
Gianluca Mancini – 6
Played a couple of accurate crosses into the box and won a few duels. Fairly solid here.
Diego Llorente – 6.5
Tasked with covering for the absent Chris Smalling at the heart of the three-man defense and did well for the most part. Seems to be settling in fairly well at Roma.
Roger Ibanez – 3
Caught down the left-hand side a couple of times by Ederson in the opening phases and perhaps could have got closer to Pasalic for the opener. Jose Luis Palomino got the better of him in the build-up to the second goal too. Poor display.
Zeki Celik – 5
Didn’t do much of note and wasn’t a clear casualty at the back.
Bryan Cristante – 6.5
Accurate with his passes and played progressively too. Made a couple of interceptions in a solid performance.
Edoardo Bove – 4.5
Struggled to get involved here and was benched midway through the second half for Nemanja Matic.
Nicola Zalewski – 5.5
Showed promising signs with his creativity down the left flank but couldn’t get anything to materialize. Replaced by Leonardo Spinazzola in the second period.
Lorenzo Pellegrini – 7
Tried to link the play in the first half but to no avail. Came to life when he finished with a excellent strike into the bottom corner to make it 2-1 late on. Almost found a second but was denied by the post.
Ola Solbakken – 5
Failed to make much of an impact but did try to make things happen at least and created a couple of chances.
Tammy Abraham – 5
Impressive work rate but dispossessed in the lead up to Atalanta’s opener and didn’t show much quality in the final third. Shooting was poor too.
Substitutions
Nemanja Matic – 6
Didn’t give the ball away and won his duels well.
Paulo Dybala – 6
Looked lively when introduced as he was brought on for Mancini in an offensive move by Jose Mourinho.
Leonardo Spinazzola – 5
Struggled to make much impact down the left flank when introduced.
Stephan El Shaarawy – 5
Didn’t do much wrong when he came on but didn’t make an impact either.