Dybala put Roma in the Europa League extremis

With a goal in the last minutes, Argentine Paulo Dybala saved Roma’s season at the buzzer and put his team in the Europa League after knocking out Spezia (2-1), who was first on the scoreboard and had to play a playoff game with Hellas Verona to see who will leave the Italian top flight

And that couldn’t have started the game any worse for those José Mourinho, who was not on the bench while he served his punishment for the yellow he saw the day before against Fiorentina. And just six minutes after all the applause and congratulations to the players for their Europa League final, Spezia took the lead on the scoreboard.

Greek Dimitrios Nikolau took advantage of Roma’s poorly defended second play and, unmarked, finished off a deflected shot from his Moroccan teammate Mehdi Bourabia from point-blank range with his head, giving them the many options to maintain the category.

From that moment, Spezia dropped the block, locked in their area and tried to surprise the counter. The ‘giallorosso’ team carried the weight of the game even without enough rhythm to create spaces between the backs to filter through. Without the depth he usually sees in the wingers, now playing with a 4-3-3 and with El Shaarawy and Dybala dropping into the middle, the long shot is the solution against the Spezia wall.

El Shaarawy ran onto the crossbar, Dybala tried twice and Mancini once again, all to no avail. The good defense of the visitors and the few solutions provided by Belotti, who always defends well, frustrated the ‘Wolf’ until, almost by surprise, he found the goal that allowed him to get back into the game.

Zalewski started the comeback

Zalewski tied the contest with a shot center that neither Belotti nor Bove could handle in the center of the area and ended up entering the twilight of the first half. The romanista team was fully involved in the game and jumped into the second half more plugged.

This time, the superiority of the locals was noticeable with dangerous approaches and a very clear omission from Dybala, who overshot his shot and kept the tie against a Spezia that did not suggest anything, quite satisfied to the point of not sending him. directly to Serie B. Of course, Zurkowski had safety in his boots with a counter that he failed to finish inside the area and that was his team’s only chance in the second half.

As the end of the game approached, Roma were desperate to score as Juve’s victory saw them out of the Europa League, Dybala was brought down in the area but the referee did not point it out, something that ended the game. It will heat up in the final minutes with untimely entries and pique between players.

Dybala decided at the end of a penalty

Roma could not penetrate the defensive framework of Spezia, and Abraham’s injury after poor support further reduced the ‘giallorosso’ attack. But in the last one, when everything was heading for a final tie, Wijnaldum found El Shaarawy deep and brought it down. This time the referee signaled the maximum penalty and Dyabala, once again, appeared to save Roma, who will be in the Europa League next year.

Spezia, meanwhile, will play a relegation playoff against Hellas Verona before a tie on points in a match to be played next week.