José Mourinho’s Roma are third in Serie A after beating Verona (1-0) thanks to a solitary goal, Ola Solbakken’s first since his arrival in January. The 24-year-old Norwegian striker made his debut in the ‘gianlorossa’ shirt in the absence of Paulo Dybala and the busyness of Lorenzo Pellegrini, who remained on the bench, and he made the most of his opportunity.
It was not easy for Roma to open the can because, in addition, Tammy Abraham was forced to retire after a quarter of an hour of play after receiving an unexpected blow to the face from his teammate Gianluca Mancini.
Belotti comes in for Abraham
In his place came Andrea Belotti, the only offensive resource left to a nervous Mourinho as he saw how, as minutes passed, his team was incapable of creating danger against the defensive device of a ultra-conservative Verona, third from the last ranking, that He has never shown signs of having the success that would allow him to leave the relegation positions.
Mourinho was shown a yellow card for protesting (34′) moments before Leonardo Spinazzola had Roma’s first chance after stealing the ball, advancing a few meters and unleashing a shot which, deflected by a defender , forcing Lorenzo Montipò to show off ( 36′) .
Great heel assist from Spinazzola
It was all indications that they would go to the break with 0-0 when, after discounting the first half, Roma scored with the best detailed play of the game. Spinazzola extended a back-heeled ball that found Solbakken in the area and the Norwegian crossed perfectly against Montipò.
In the second half, Roma dedicated themselves to managing the advantage and, although they did not close the game, they applied themselves in defense and did not see the victory in danger at any time because Verona did not have a single chance.
Roma didn’t even have to create an attacking threat and their best option of this second half came in the 89th minute with a header from Belotti that was miraculously saved by Montipò. No doubt a victory that will give Mourinho’s team morale to try to overcome on Thursday the 1-0 defeat they received this week in Austria against Salzburg.
Rome
10
VERONA
Rome: Rui Patricio; Mancini, Smalling, Ibanez; Karsdorp (Çelik, 70′), Cristante, Bove, Spinazzola; Solbakken (Zalewski, 70′), El Shaarawy (Wijnaldum, 87′); Abraham (Belotti, 15′)
The
Verona: Montipo; Magnani, Hien (Coppola, 46′), Dawidowicz; Depaoli, Tameze, Duda, Doig (Abildgaard, 84′); Ngonge (Yayah Kallon, 76′), Lazovic (Braaf, 60′); Gaich (Lasagna, 59′)
Goal: 1-0 Solbakken (45′)
Referee: Simone Sozza. Yellow cards to Hien (28′), Mourinho (34′), Smalling (38′), Ngonge (42′)
Spectators: 61,009 at Olympic
see the match sheet
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
