Bologna thrash Roma in Rome #2107
Bologna 3 A.S Roma 1
Roma on the back out of advancing to the Europa League Semi-Final for the second straight season on Thursday. Roma would be back in Rome once again for one of the biggest matches of the season. We are getting near the end of this campaign with the Champions League position for De Rossi’s Roma Still with the possibility of qualifying for next season’s Champions League. Roma undoubtedly have a very difficult schedule to end the season, including several critical matches on the bounce. Roma last weekend In the league had a stoppage with A health concern surrounding Evan Ndicka. The match at Darcia Arena had to be abandoned with the score between Roma and Udinesse All knotted up. The last 20 minutes of that match will be played on April 25th. Rolling up to the stadio olimpico Monday night would be Bologna. Thiago Mota has created something truly extraordinary this season. He took them last season from the relegation zone to 8th and now has taken them from 8th to 4th. A victory over Roma for the second time this season in Rome. Could possibly see them all but secure Champions League football for next season. It was a 2–0 victory In the reverse fixture. Roma still has matches against Atalanta, Napoli, Juventus this season. Losing at home this evening would be a huge blow as it is vitally important. Bologna has dropped a couple of points here and there. There is not a better chance for Roma to jump into 4th than theirs right now. Failure to do so could be kissing fourth place goodbye. However, fortunately Italy has five Champions League spots this season, but given their schedule, they wouldn’t be doing themselves any favors as the importance of a result could not be more clear for the home side.
De Rossi dealing with fatigue and a injury to Lukaku would introduce Tammy Abraham back into the starting lineup for the first time since his injury. They were going to need their very best to beat an incredibly strong bologna side and they felt that level of presence early on. In the third minute. Michael Aebischer unloads a strike from distance that ricochets off the Roma defense. A few minutes later there was already a cage being rattled. Joshua Zirkzee and Paredes got into it after the Bologna attacker nudges Paredes. The Argentine hit the deck like a wet fish heavily Overacting to the situation earning himself a yellow card. He will now miss the game against Napoli. A true frustration as Paredes returning to his old ways. In the 9th minute El Shaarawy catches a good ball from inside the box as he fives it over. Really. Should have done better on that. In the 14th minute the entire Stadio olimpico would be stunned into silence. Roma trying to clear the ball out from their own area but ultimately unable to do so. Ricardo Calafiori hits a brilliant ball into the box. Mancini is tightly guarded with El Azzouzi He goes for the spectacular hitting a scissor kick in the air into the bottom corner to score an absolute brilliant goal to give bologna a 1-0 lead.
A little bit more chaos erupts as Dybala gets into it with the goal score and the bologna players mock Roma in their celebration raising The tensions. Rum attempt to try and come back with a response. In the 20th minute Parades can’t get it there from distance. In the 25th minute coming off a Roma corner Dybala tries to find the touch well taken but it remains level. Roma could not move the ball and really had difficulties getting anything really going at all. In the 42nd minute on a free kick. Alexis Saelemaekers Hits the bar. As Roma are under complete pressure and haven’t found anything to combat it with. At the end of the first half in the 45th minute it was going to go from bad to worse. Coming from El Azzouzi takes a deflection from the left side. It is then pushed in by Joshua Zirkzee Roma clear it off, but not before. It crosses the line as bologna take a 2-0 lead. As Joshua Zirkzee continues to have a terrific season. The first half will come to a close with Rama in deep trouble, but 45 minutes to attempt to correct it.
A truly atrocious first half from Roma. The importance of a result could not have been more clear. Almost immediate substitutions with Tam Abraham. Not the fault of his own getting replaced by Sardar Azmoun and Rick Karsdorp coming in Zeki Celik and Leo Spinazolla for Angelino. In the 53rd minute Leo Paredes unloaded a strike from distance but was denied by Skorupski. A couple minutes later the Iranian substitute got a goal back for Roma. Lorenzo Pellegrini sent a cross into the box Sardar Azmoun from close range gets denied then it’s another that hits the keeper before sending a third into the back of the net to minimize the deficit. Sardar Azmoun has been very good this season He’s dealt with some injuries and not getting a ton of opportunities at the start, but when he’s healthy he certainly has been a factor for Roma.
Roma was only down by a goal now They’re possibly was a chance for a comeback to occur and stealing a point. Still been quite a spineless performance overall, but an opportunity sits there for them. A window opened and then it would immediately close shortly after. In the 65th minute, Dybala is taken to the ground in what was obviously a foul. However Joshua Zirkzee delivered a through ball into Alexis Saelemaekers creating a one-on-one with the goalkeeper. He pops it over the keeper’s head into the back of the net as Bologna took a 3-1 lead. It is true that it should have been taken back for a foul on Dybala. However, Roma’s entire defense stood there like a statue while Alexis Saelemaekers ran down the pitch and scored a vital goal. No effort whatsoever. Instead of chasing down the attacker they complained about the foul and let it happen shambolic behavior. Sardar Azmoun gave rum away back in and within 10 minutes wasted it. Tommaso Baldanzi was brought in for El Shaarawy. In The 82nd minute Tommaso Baldanzi from outside the box sees his attempt blocked. Roma came forward again in the 83rd minute as Dybala drives in a ball from a corner Cristante gets on the end of it but can’t find the goal. Then in the 86th minute it’s Lorenzo Pellegrini nearly gets a goal back after some terrific work from Sardar Azmoun as the Iranian saves the ball from going out of bounds striking it deflecting off the keeper. It falls into the space of the Lorenzo Pellegrini in a very good position. However, the Roma captains strike put too much on it as it flies over. In the 93rd minute, dybala tries to make something of it. A strike from the side of the box is blocked by bologna. The full-time whistle goes as Roma fall on their face against bologna in Rome as Bologna strengthens their Champions League aspirations even further as they do the double against Roma.
Although there can be a number of issues taken by Roma over the 90 minutes collectively, they got exactly what they deserved. Of course to a certain level. There are some valid excuses for why Roma maybe have looked a little flatter then weeks previously. However, it does not excuse the performance. Roma have a level of fatigue. There’s no doubt about that. They’ve been playing in Europe and in the league for weeks is not an easy level. Roma has some injuries. There are things that they are dealing with right now. However, all that said. It was a humiliating performance. Bologna was the better side and deserved maximum points they just did. Throughout you can see the way Thiago Mota has completely transformed them into a European side. They looked sharp. They were exceptional on a lot of ways they were imposing on the counter attack. They were able to unravel the Roma defense. They did everything that they were asked to do and then some. It was a chest match but it wasn’t a close one. It was a complete masterpiece by bologna. They come to Rome and get maximum points. It’s a difficult thing to do regardless of the set of A apprehensible performance. Especially on the third goal to which Roma did not react. When the counter attack took place. They were too busy complaining about the foul on Dybala. It certainly was a foul and the goal should not have stood. However, you cannot stop what you’re doing because a bad call has taken place. They just froze and allowed them to score an easy goal. They were tired to a degree but also did not put their best foot forward even though there were a few out there that fought until the very end. It was a truly appalling performance in any way you look at it. De Rossi tactically was quite poor. He took huge risks, especially with Paredes leaving him out there on a yellow card. Roma lost their heads. Quite a few occasions and the frustration continued to rise. Roma had a few chances, but for the most part they did not pose a threat to Bologna. It was poorly managed by de Rossi. It was poorly executed by the players and even when there was an opportunity for something to occur to potentially take a point, they let it slip through. Sardar Azmoun came off the bench. Scored immediately. The deficit was eventually minimized however within 10 minutes. Bologna killed it off. They didn’t have the mental capacity or the maturity to handle this performance. This isn’t a long-term issue but they let themselves down in one of their most important matches of the season. Now they have to go to Napoli to beat them. Granted they’re not in great form, but if they’re not careful, these last couple matches of the Season could slip out of their hands. They must maintain themselves in the top five. Hopefully they get three points in the last 20 minutes on April 25th against Udinesse Because Monday night in Rome a place where a lot of teams struggle bologna just played them off the park. Roma got exactly what they deserved.
