AS Roma 1 – 2 Tottenham Hotspur
AS Roma 1 – 2 Tottenham Hotspur
Stadio Olimpico (73,261)
GOAL SCORERS
KANE (13)
VERTONGHEN (38)
NAINGGOLAN (58)
Nainggolan (pictured) celebrating the only goal for AS Roma
Match day 4 has come as AS Roma face Tottenham at home in the Stadio Olimpico. 41,180 fans were gathered here to watch these two teams play some football. AS Roma will be looking to stop Tottenham from getting 3 wins in their last 3 league matches after their opening day loss against PSG. Tottenham are with danger man Harry Kane who didn’t like what the Roma manager said in his last interview.
AS Roma come off a win away against Inter and will hope that they win here in front of their home fans. Tottenham have won their last 3 league matches and could move to 4th should they take a win here. Fert said in his pre-match conference that the team know what they must do to get a result here. Perotti failed a late fitness test so he had to be omitted from the squad here today. AS Roma made no change to the startling line up that beat Inter 2 – 1. They play a 4-3-3 (B) formation.
AS Roma line up:
Alisson (89)
B Peres (89) M Gonalons (90) K Manolas (91) A Kolarov (90)
D De Rossi (c) (91)
K Strootman (91) R Nainggolan (93)
A Florenzi (91) S El Shaarawy (90)
E Dzeko (92)
Tottenham managed by Gursimran Brar made 1 change to the starting lineup that won 2 – 0 against Napoli with Kane back in and shockingly Eriksen was dropped to the bench. They play a 4-2-3-1 (B) formation.
Spurs line up:
H Lloris (92)
S Aurier (91) T Alderweirld (c) (92) J Ventonghen (92) D Rose (90)
V Wanyama (91) M Dembele (91)
D Alli (90) H Son (91) E Lamela (91)
H Kane (93)
First Half:
The game was started by the referee when he blew the whistle in the Stadio Olimpico. This wasn’t as full as last time since there are only 41,180 people compared to the 73,221 that came here last time. AS Roma started the match by attacking through the wings but quickly lost possession. In the 6th minute, the first chance of the game came on Wanyama as he received the ball from Son but Alisson punched the ball out. An early goal came 13 minutes into the game as Lamela passed the ball to Kane who slotted the ball past Alisson and into the goal post. Barely 4 minutes later Strootman got a chance on goal but was disappointed as his shot went wide. Kane also got another chance in the 21th minute but couldn’t put the shot past Alisson as the keeper got a hand to it. Alisson yet again saved Roma as he managed to block Wanyama’s shout in the 28th minute. Lamela brought Dzeko down and was given a yellow card. Nainggolan crossed the ball for Peres to head it but the ball hit the wood work and went out. Unlucky Roma. In the 34th minute De Rossi tried an ambitious shot only for it to go wide off the post. Kane almost got a second goal 2 minutes later, but his shot went narrowly wide. Just before the half time whistle blew, Tottenham grabbed a second goal as Lamela crossed the ball into the penalty box and Ventonghen was there to slot it home. The half ended with Tottenham leading 2 – 0.
Second Half:
Tottenham started the match and went straight into the opposition’s half to attack. In the 59th minute, El Shaarawy passed the ball to Nainggolan who shot the ball past the keeper and into the goal post. AS Roma have managed to pull one back. Not a lot of chances in this half as the next chance came 12 minutes later as Lamela shot the ball but it was straight at Alisson. The last chance of the game went to AS Roma as Florenzi hit the ball over the crossbar. In the 88th minute, Strootman got a yellow card for pulling the shirt of Sissoko. The captain was frustrated with Sissoko for time wasting. The referee blew the whistle as the match ended with AS Roma losing to Tottenham 2 – 1.
FULL TIME: AS Roma 1 – 2 Tottenham Hotspur
MOTM: Becker Alisson
Post Match Conference:
Reporters managed to catch Fert just before he was leaving and asked for a comment, here’s what he had to say: “I didn’t like the way the team played in the first half. We gave them too many chances and we were punished for that. If not for Alisson, we would have been 4 – 0 down. Well done Harry Kane”. Man of the Match Becker Alisson was also asked for a comment, he said: “I’m very happy to have received the man of the match award although I would have preferred a win here. The team improved much more defensively in the second half after the talk Fert gave during half time. We stopped Tottenham from getting too many chances. If we had played like that in the first match we would have gotten the win. We play Monaco next and I look forward to that”.
