Since the arrival of Romelu Lukaku in Rome, Roma supporters were in 7th heaven, but AC Milan, though reduced to 10 per hour of play, coolly took on the task of bringing them back to earth by imposing 2-1 at the Stadio Olimpico on Friday.
After the triumphant arrival at the airport in front of 5,000 tifosi on Wednesday and the formalization of the loan by Chelsea, photos with the Coliseum in the background on Thursday, the official presentation in front of 70,000 spectators in heaven before the clash against AC Milan : thanks to Lukaku, Roma had a crazy week where his supporters began to dream of the title.
Unfortunately for them, Lukaku, short of competition, since his previous match dated back to mid-June, only entered for the last 20 minutes and could not on his own turn around an already compromised situation.
It was another licensed scorer who shone and it only took him nine minutes: after a foul in the box by Rui Patricio on Ruben Loftus-Creek, Olivier Giroud converted the penalty and scored his fourth goal at the age of 36. the season.
For his return to the Roma bench after serving a two-game suspension for insulting a referee, Jose Mourinho couldn’t help but ironically applaud the referee’s decision against his team.
The Milanese could have doubled the mark in the 21st minute on an opening from Théo Hernandez taken over by Christian Pulisic, but a reflex save from Rui Patricio delayed the deadline.
Upon his return from the locker room, Rafael Leao concretized the clear superiority of his team with an acrobatic recovery (48th).
The exclusion of Fikayo Tomori, after a second warning (60), woke up the Olympic Stadium which ignited ten minutes later for the entry of Lukaku and even more when the Belgian striker fired a shot (72) which grazed Mike Maignan’s crossbar.
Taking advantage of their numerical superiority, the players of Roma finished better and reduced the mark by Leonardo Spinazzola (90 + 2nd), far too late to worry the leader, serene.
“The result is good, the way is just as interesting. I am very satisfied, my players showed generosity and managed the start of the match well,” said AC Milan coach Stefano Pioli on the DAZN platform.
After three games, including two at home, AS Roma, which saw Houssem Aour out through injury, only pocketed a small point (18th).
Double from Berardi
In the other game of the evening, Sassuolo, who had lost their first two games, woke up against Verona (3-1) thanks to a brace from their captain Domenico Berardi.
On Saturday, defending champion Naples (2nd) receives Lazio (19th), the other club in the Italian capital whose start to the season is even more worrying (0 pt) than that of Roma.
Sunday, Inter (3rd) receives Fiorentina (5th) and Juventus (6th) goes to Empoli (20th).
2023-09-02 01:47:29
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