Roma keep a two-goal lead four days after losing one at Old Trafford
Roma went in 2-0 up at half-time for the second time in a week, and this time the second half added to the lead instead of taking it away. Sassuolo have now lost five in a row and conceded 19 goals in those matches.
Mario Hermoso, a centre-back, started it. In the 27th minute he surged forward from Roma's back three, exchanged passes with Donyell Malen and struck the return into the roof of the net with his left foot. Three minutes later Malen's shot from the right was turned in by Sebastian Walukiewicz, and Roma had the half-time lead that had cost them at Manchester United on Tuesday. This one held: they beat Sassuolo 3-0.
Roma
- 1Giorgio De Marzi
- 2Levente Kilvinger
- 3Santiago Castro
- 4Antonio Arena
- 5Konstantinos Koulierakis
- 6Marten de Roon
- 7Emanuele Lulli
- 8Valerio Maccaroni
- 9Niccolò Pisilli
- 10Daniele Ghilardi
Sassuolo
- 1Edoardo Pieragnolo
- 2Stefano Turati
- 3Laurs Skjellerup
- 4Giacomo Satalino
- 5Rafael Obrador
- 6Luca Lipani
- 7Cas Odenthal
- 8Kieron Bowie
- 9Nicholas Pierini
- 10Darryl Bakola
- 11Vasilije Adzic
- 12Fali Candé
- 13Benjamín Domínguez
- 14Andrea Ghion
- 15Ignace van der Brempt
At Old Trafford a 2-0 lead at the break became a 3-2 defeat. Here the second half was Roma's. Thirteen minutes after the restart Rodrigo Mora played a one-two with Malen and put the ball through Duje Caleta-Car's legs into the far corner.
Three was not the most Roma could have scored. Caleta-Car had already cleared a Leonardo Balerdi header off the line, and Malen had a shot cleared off it in the second half. Devis Vásquez, in goal for the absent Mile Svilar, had one save of note to make, tipping Nemanja Matic's angled shot round the post early on.
Roma have 27 points, second for the night and a point behind Lazio, and are still unbeaten in the league.
Alberto Aquilani, facing the club he once played for, has now lost to Frosinone, Como, Lazio, Fiorentina and Roma in turn, and his defence has let in 29 goals in 11 rounds.
