Mueez Ajao
– Roma did the bare minimum and emerged from Ukraine with a 3-0 victory over Zorya Luhask,with scorers including Tammy Abraham and Chris Smalling goals.
– The Giallorossi’s confidence was shaken at the weekend by defeat to Lazio in the Derby della Capitale, so Jose Mourinho rotated this squad for the trip to Ukraine.
– It took just six minutes to break through, as Stephan El Shaarawy sprung the offside trap on an Ebrima Darboe slide-rule pass and dribbled around the goalkeeper to deposit into an empty net.
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– The Little Pharaoh almost had a second, his trademark curler palmed away, then Eldor Shomurodov was denied by an outstretched leg after the Lorenzo Pellegrini assist.
– Zorya got more and more into the game as it wore on, Rui Patricio alert on a shaky Chris Smalling back-pass, while Carles Perez stung the goalkeeper’s gloves on the counter from another inspired Darboe ball.
– Darboe was impressive, forcing a save himself after a mazy run, but Roma took total control after some smart substitutions from Mourinho.
– Abraham immediately thumped the upright from close range, then Smalling nodded in a corner from a couple of yards.
– Moments later, Abraham was not offside because the final ball came off a defender rather than Nicolò Zaniolo and he finished it off calmly.
– The clean sheet was retained with the final kick of the game by a Rui Patricio save and Riccardo Calafiori goal-line clearance on Lunov.
