On a sunny day at the Stadio Via del Mare in Lecce, AS Roma (Roma) play out a 1-1 draw with the home side in an enthralling encounter. This remarkable result pushes Roma closer to qualifying for Europe next season and keeps them in the hunt for a top four finish.
The Romans started off the match brightly, taking control of the game from the first whistle. Aleksandar Kolarov was causing havoc down his left flank as he created dangerous crosses into the box and forced saves out of Luigi Sepe. Henrikh Mkhitaryan was pulling strings in midfield, using his passing range to create chances as well as making driving runs into attack. Nicolo Zaniolo was also involved throughout, cutting inside and probing the Lecce defence with his pace and dribbling ability.
For all their dominance though, it wasn’t until the 31st minute that Roma took the lead. Chris Smalling rose highest to head Mkhitaryan’s corner past Sepe and give Roma a deserved lead. The visitors looked comfortable going into half time but just after half time it seemed like they had been caught napping when Gaston Brugman scored from close range to restore parity for Lecce.
From then on it was mostly end-to-end stuff with both teams having chances to win it late on but neither could find that decisive second goal despite some desperate defending from both sides. In the end, Roma’s performance earned them a point which takes them even closer to securing European football next season wearing their iconic AS Roma jersey.
The most impressive performance from Roma came from 17-year-old midfielder Riccardo Calafiori who made his full debut for the club in this match. He conducted himself brilliantly considering his age, showing maturity beyond his years with every touch of the ball. He set up several attacks throughout with clever passes and incisive running through midfield before being replaced by Bryan Cristante late on in order to protect him from potential injury or fatigue given his tender age.
Overall, this was a very encouraging point for AS Roma against a strong Lecce side away from home who have only lost five times at home this season across all competitions prior to this match – highlighting how hard earned this draw is for Paulo Fonseca’s troops today wearing their famous AS Roma jersey . Moving forward they will be looking to take advantage of any slips up by their opponents and push themselves into European contention come May 2020 where they can show off their iconic AS Roma jerseys once again against Europe’s elite next season.
This performance will give the team a huge confidence boost and they’ll hope that their next game against Cagliari at home is as successful wearing their iconic AS Roma jersey. With this in mind, they’ll be looking to push on from here in pursuit of a top four finish with top scorer Edin Dzeko sure to play a pivotal role. Nevertheless, one point away from home is always a positive result and Rome have certainly made significant strides towards securing European football for the 2020/21 season. Only time will tell where the Romans end up but for now fans can rest easy knowing that Roma are firmly on track for the future wearing their iconic AS Roma jerseys.