Roma extends its streak without league defeats, but misses a great opportunity. De Rossi’s men, who have gone six games without losing, did not go beyond 0-0 at the Lecce stadium, which finished the match with more chances than its opponents and up to 27 shots, its record of the season.
A victory would have reinforced Romanista’s fifth place, which could be worth a place in the next Champions League: now Atalanta, thanks to its victory at Maradona, is only two points away. With Dybala still injured on the bench, the Romans started by lining up Baldanzi and Zalewski on Lukaku’s sides in attack, a trident that created very little in the first half.
Gotti’s team added at least four good opportunities to break the deadlock in the game, but had poor aim with Piccoli, Gallo and Dorgu. The Giallorossi, on the other hand, only began to show themselves in the final minutes before the break with Zalewski, who missed a good chance from a pass from Baldanzi, and Angeliño, who touched the post with a left-footed free kick.
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At the restart, De Rossi’s men, who in the final stretch were able to reinforce their lead with Dybala, asked for a penalty for pushing Zalewski and were more dangerous thanks to the revulsive El Shaarawy and Aouar. The former Lyon player was close to making it 0-1 with a shot neutralized by Falcone, although the locals reacted with several counterattacks in which they only lacked the decisive shot. Dorgu missed a huge chance from a pass from Krstovic, Banda and Sansone also missed their aim and Oudin, in one of the last plays, hit the crossbar with a shot from the edge of the area. The tie is not enough, but De Rossi could have done worse.
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Changes
Dean Huijsen (45′, Evan Ndicka), Lameck Banda (60′, Pontus Almqvist), Nicola Sansone (61′, Roberto Piccoli), Houssem Aouar (63′, Edoardo Bove), Stephan El Shaarawy (63′, Nicola Zalewski), Remi Oudin (71′, Patrick Dorgu), Lorenzo Venuti (81′, Antonino Gallo), Zeki Celik (82′, Rick Karsdorp), Paulo Dybala (82′, Tommaso Baldanzi)
Cards
Referee: Matteo Marcenaro
VAR referee: Daniele Paterna, Aleandro Di Paolo
Battered Ndicka (10′,Yellow), Roberto Piccoli (37′, Yellow), Federico Baschirotto (44′, Yellow), Rainbow Ramadan (80′,Yellow), Cristante (83′, Yellow)
