The Rome succumbed this Sunday resoundingly to Empoli (2-1), in a night dedicated to the joyous ‘re-release’ of the Argentine Paulo Dybalabut it was a desperate premiere at the Olympic Stadium in Rome.
With the initial ovation, Dybala’s banners in thanks for choosing Roma over the Saudis and the general ovation from the stands in the exciting home opener in Serie A, there was nothing left at the end of the match. What’s more, the applause turned into a massive whistle for a disastrous game of Daniel De Rossihelpless against an Empoli destined for mid-table.
‘Loba’ was a slow, predictable and erratic team against an Empoli who warned with some dangerous counters until Ghanaian Emmanuel Gyasi managed to get one on the brink of half time which gave him of important advantage on the scoreboard.
Far from improving in the second half, Roma continued to stagnate, constantly at the mercy of a flash from Dybala, who could do little to try to get the rivalry back on track.
But it was not the day of almost anyone in the ‘gianlorosso’ eleven, who saw how Argentine Leandro Paredes, one of the best in the team, made a double blunder that ended the rivalry. First he lost the ball he controlled in the middle of the field as the last man; and, later, trying to make amends for his mistake, ran over Sebastiano Esposito which resulted in a penalty which Luca Colombo converted to make it 2-0.
Roma, already tied on the first day, reacted in the final minutes and found the goal through Uzbek Eldor Shomurodov with a fine header that gave some hope. In fact, Dybala hit the woodwork with one of the late ones, but he couldn’t beat Empoli on their big night. It’s two games in a row without a win and the feeling is that there is still a lot to improve in all aspects in De Rossi’s team.
match lineup
99
19
3
16
23
5
7
4
11
21
18
23
11
3
21
34
4
6
93
29
17
10
Olympic Stadium
Davis Vasquez23
45′
Emmanuel Gyasi11
44′
Giuseppe Pezzella3
62′
62′
Mattia Viti21
Ardian Ismajli34
Sebastian Walukiewicz4
Liam Henderson6
61′
Youssef Maleh93
25′
62′
Lorenzo Colombo29
60′
86′
Ola Solbakken17
57′
57′
76′
Jacopo Fazzini10
87′
Replacements
Jacopo Seghetti12
Federico Brancolini98
Saba Goglichidze2
Liberato Cacace13
62′
83′
Gabriele Guarino14
Petar Stojanovic30
87′
Luca Marianucci35
61′
Nicholas Haas32
62′
62′
Steven Shpendi7
45′
Emmanuel Ekong19
86′
Sebastian Esposito99
57′
76′
79′
coach
Daniel De Rossi
Roberto D’Aversa
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.
