AS Roma 1 – 1 SSC Napoli

AS Roma 1 – 1 SSC Napoli

Stadio Olimpico (73,261)

GOAL SCORERS

DZEKO (17)

MILIK (85)

Dzeko battling with Maksimovic for the ball

Match day 6 has arrived and a record breaking attendance of 73,256 fans will be present to watch this. AS Roma play at home to Napoli as both teams should be familiar with each other given their time in the Serie A. AS Roma drew their last league match with Monaco while Napoli drew with PSG. Napoli will be looking for their first win of the season having 4 and drawn 1. AS Roma will also be looking for their first win at home as they’ve only won away. This promises to be a cracking match for sure.

Fert said in the pre-match conference that he hopes that his team can win this match especially with the home fans watching. He also said that 3 points gained here should push them further up the table. AS Roma made only one change to the starting line up that drew with Monaco as Gonalons is dropped due to traveling to Brazil for the cup match and Palmieri will take his place. AS Roma will play a 4-3-3 (B) formation.

AS Roma line up:

Alisson (89)

A Flroenzi (91) K Manolas (91) A Kolarov (90) E Palmieri (90)

D De Rossi (c) (91)

K Strootman (91) R Nainggolan (93)

D Peroti (90) S El Shaarawy (90)

E Dzeko (92)

Napoli, managed by Luis Mourinhoz, went with a 4-2-3-1 (B) formation with only one change to the starting line that drew with PSG. Milik was dropped for Insigne.

Napoli line up:

P Reina (90)

N Maksimovic (87) K Koulibaly (c) (91) V Chirches (89) F Ghoulam (90)

L Allan (90) F Jorginho (91)

J Callejon (91) M Hamsik (93) D Mertens (92)

L Insigne (91)

First Half:

The half was started by AS Roma as they looked to score an early goal. In the 4th minute, El Shaarawy played a pass to Dzeko but Reina was able to block Dzeko’s shot from going in. Reina played the goal kick quickly. Callejon got the ball and passed it to Jorginho but his long shot was punched out by Alisson. Three minutes later, Reina was called into action as he had to make 2 saves to deny Dzeko a goal. Alisson was also called into action in the 10th minute as he managed to save a powerful shot from Mertens. Immediately after the goal kick was played, Ghoulam received a yellow card for committing a foul. Nainggolan used the free kick to cross the ball to Perotti but his shot went over the cross bar. El Shaarawy managed to get the ball after the goal kick was played and passed to Dzeko but Reina saved his shot easily. Five minutes later, AS Roma scored as Naiggolan passed the ball to Dzeko. Dzeko got past Maksimovic and placed his shot to the top corner. Reina couldn’t reach the ball as Dzeko celebrates scoring the first goal of the game. Twenty minutes into the game, Insigne brought down El Shaarawy and received a yellow card. AS Roma had a couple more chances but Palmieri and Dzeko couldn’t get their shots on target. Napoli also tried to equalize but Insigne’s shot went over the cross bar and later, Alisson denied him from scoring. The referee blew the whistle as Roma lead Napoli 1 – 0.

Second Half:

The second half was started by Napoli and they decided to play a patient and passing game. There was no action in the half till the 60th minute when Insigne was one on one with Alisson, but Alisson managed to get a hand and push the ball clear of the goal. 72 minutes into the game, Alisson again denied Insigne from scoring as he tipped his shot with an acrobatic save. Three minutes later, Dzeko received a yellow card for committing a yellow card. Zielinski used the free kick to crosses the ball to Milik but his attempt at goal sailed over the bar. We all thought there would be no more goals but in the 85th minute, Napoli scored a goal as Hamsik crossed the ball over the AS Roma defense to Milik. Milik had beaten the offside trap and was through on goal. Alisson couldn’t get to the ball as Milik shot the ball towards the bottom corner of the goal post. The referee blew his whistle with AS Roma getting another draw. This time with Napoli.

FULL TIME: AS Roma 1 - 1 SSC Napoli

MOTM: Becker Alisson

Post Match Conference:

Fert greeted the reporters and decided to speak about the game. “I thought I had won until Napoli scored. I wished we had scored more but we didn’t convert our chances. I will be changing some of our tactics so that we never lose a lead that we have, goodnight”. Alisson was also pleased to have picked up man of the match again. He wished that his defenders would have done more to prevent the goal but understood that Napoli are deadly on the counter. He also hoped that his team would start picking up points sooner rather than later.