Roma 3-0 Sheriff: Roma go to UEL play-off despite victory
Romelu Lukaku, Andrea Belotti and Niccolò Pisilli secured the victory over Sheriff, but it was not enough for Roma to avoid the Europa League play-offs.
The Giallorossi knew snatching top spot was going to be extremely difficult, as they had to win and hope Slavia Prague lost to Servette, or get a victory by over four clear goals if their rivals were held to a draw. Paulo Dybala, Leonardo Spinazzola, Sardar Azmoun, Chris Smalling, Marash Kumbulla, Tammy Abraham, Rasmus Kristensen and suspended Evan Ndicka were unavailable.
In the opening minute, Rick Karsdorp flashed an angled drive across the face of goal when found unmarked at the back post by Romelu Lukaku.
It took just 10 minutes to break the deadlock, as Nicola Zalewski got down the left several times, on this occasion rolling across the six-yard box for Lukaku to tap in from close range. It was the Belgian’s sixth consecutive Europa League home tie in a row on target.
However, news filtered through that Slavia Prague were already leading Servette 3-0, rendering this result irrelevant.
Renato Sanches floated a ball over the top, allowing Zalewski to spring the offside trap and acrobatically flick it over the on-rushing goalkeeper with a cheeky lob. However, Andrea Belotti got the final touch practically on the line, so UEFA assigned the goal to him.
Mile Svilar had to rush off his line to deny the David Ankeye counter-attack and Houssem Aouar was yet another new muscular injury, replaced by Stephan El Shaarawy in the second half.
Lukaku drilled wide of the far post and Riccardo Pagano ballooned over after a well-worked move, but Roma showed the lack of threat by moving to an all-new back three of Karsdorp, Cristante and Edoardo Bove – none of them central defenders.
Youth
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