AS Roma 2 – 2 SL Benfica
AS Roma 2 – 2 SL Benfica
Stadio Olimpico (73,271)
GOAL SCORERS
SEFEROVIC (22, 40)
EL SHAARAWY (63)
DZEKO (78)
Dzeko celebrates as he scores the equalizer for AS Roma
We’re here for Match Day 9 as AS Roma host Benfica in the Stadio Olimpico. 30,9988 fans are seated here to watch these two teams play. AS Roma lost 2 – 0 to Real Madrid in their last match while Benfica managed by Danny Van Hecke beat Napoli 1 – 0.
Fert told the reporters in his pre-match conference that he was trying out a new formation in hopes that his side can score some goals and get a win here. He hoped that his side would be able to see out a win here and anything that isn’t a win would be disappointing to take.
AS Roma line up:
SL Benfica line up:
First Half:
The referee blew his whistle and AS Roma went for the attack. Jonas passed the ball to Talisca who then shot the ball, but the power made the shot wide. Six minutes into the game, Alisson was alert and managed to keep Pizzi from scoring. Then Florenzi brought down Seferovic and received a yellow card for the challenge in the 15th minute. The free kick was taken quickly and Samaris received the ball from Pizzi and aimed his shot at the top corner, but the ball flew over the crossbar. Five minutes later, Alisson did well to stop Jonas’ shot form going in. 24 minutes into the game, the first goal was scored from a counter attack as AS Roma was dispossessed, Seferovic received a pass from Samaris and went for the near post. Alisson was beaten as the ball went past him and into the net. Perotti then received a yellow card for pulling Talisca’s shirt. In the 34th minute Jonas, tried to slide the ball towards goal after receiving a wonderful cross form Pizzi but the ball went to the wrong side of the post. De Rossi was also booked after making a strong challenge on Jonas. AS Roma went down 2 – 0 after they lost the ball which led to another counter attack from Benfica. Again, Samaris played a long ball to Seferovic, who then went for the near post and scored. Same type of goal as the first one. The referee blew the whistle as AS Roma were losing this match 2 – 0.
Second Half:
Nothing exciting really happened until the 57th minute when Samaris had an attempt on goal but the ball flew over the crossbar. Three minutes later Fazio was late with his challenge on Samaris and received a yellow card. The first shot for AS Roma in the game came in the 62rd minute from Dzeko as he received the ball from El Shaarawy but the ball went high and wide. AS Roma managed to score with their first shot on target one minute later as El Shaarawy received the ball from Peres and took his shot. Cesar got a hand to the shot, but the power took it into the net. Gonalons was then booked after bringing Lopes was brought to the ground. Cesar managed to keep Benfica’s lead as he saved El Shaarawy’s shot from going in. Benfica still had a counter attack left in them as Samaris went for goal after getting past the defence, but his shot went narrowly wide. 74 minutes into game, De Rossi tried to beat the keeper from long range, but the keeper managed to save it. Four minutes later, AS Roma got their equalizer as Dzeko received the ball from Moreno and managed to get a shot in. The keeper couldn’t reach it as it dipped into the post. 3 minutes till the end of the game, AS Roma thought they would score the winner but Peres’ shot just went wide.
FULL TIME: AS Roma 2 – 2 SL Benfica
MOTM: Edin Dzeko
Match Statistics:
Post Match Conference:
Fert was present to comment about the match. Here’s what the gaffer had to say. "I thought that my tactics would get us a win here but Danny outsmarted us today. I went for three at the back as I wanted more shots on goal but it took us 62 minutes to even get a shot. Every time we had the ball, Benfica would always collect it and start going in numbers towards our goal. Maybe three at the back wasn’t the best today as Benfica were very defensive today only playing those crucial passes when we lost the ball”. Man of the Match Edin Dzeko was also here to comment. He said “I have happy to have scored the equalizer here today. The opposition’s defence was strong but once we saw that we weren’t getting any shots in, we went very attacking and that’s why we had all our shots after 60 minutes. Not the score line we expected today but we will learn from this and move on”.
