Roma ended a run of three Serie A games without a win as they secured a 1-0 victory at home to Bologna on Wednesday evening. After just five minutes into the game a penalty was awarded for the hosts after Paulo Dybala was brought down in the box. Lorenzo Pellegrini converted brilliantly from the spot in what would turn out to be the only goal of the match. So, here’s our Roma player ratings for their narrow triumph over Bologna in the Serie A return.
Roma: (3-5-2)
Rui Patricio – 6
Made a comfortable stop to deny Jhon Lucumi who shot from range but had very little to do throughout the match.
Gianluca Mancini – 6.5
Threatened in the first half with an audacious attempt that almost caught out goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski. Solid at the back when called upon.
Chris Smalling – 7.5
Looked composed at the back and made an important block to deny Lewis Ferguson in the box after some excellent work by Riccardo Orsolini. Made a vital challenge to deny substitute Niklas Pyyhtia late on in the match during added time.
Roger Ibanez – 6.5
Made a couple of decent tackles inside the opening 15 minutes. Was a little rash and picked up the first yellow card of the game for a poor challenge. Tasked with dealing with the threat of Riccardo Orsolini but did struggle a little up against him here.
Zeki Celik – 7
Threatened down the right flank at times for the hosts in the second half. Solid in defense and wasn’t really troubled.
Benjamin Tahirovic – 5.5
Didn’t pick the ball up much but did fairly well in the midfield battle when needed.
Bryan Cristante – 7.5
Played a couple of nice forward passes in the opening phases and was controlling the tempo. Strong in the midfield contest too.
Lorenzo Pellegrini – 8
Slotted the penalty home with ease with a fantastic strike into the right corner to open the scoring. Helped back with his defensive duties well and also created a couple of chances.
Stephan El Shaarawy – 4
Scarcely involved before being subbed off midway through the second half for Nicola Zalewski.
Paulo Dybala – 6
Won the spot kick early on after linking up well with Nicolo Zaniolo but struggled to impact the game much from then on. Subbed off in the second half for Edoardo Bove.
Nicolo Zaniolo – 6
Combined with Paulo Dybala in the build up to the penalty. Had a good opportunity as the ball fell to him inside the box following a corner but he failed to get the strike on target with a poor attempt. Started to make some good runs in behind the Bologna defense to begin the second half but was forced off on the hour mark after picking up a knock.
Substitutions
Tammy Abraham – 6
Not involved much going forward but put himself about and made a goal line headed clearance deep into injury time to ensure Roma held on to all three points.