Europa League, Roma-Braga 3-0: Pellegrini, Abdulhamid and Hermoso sign the hat-trick

Rome, 12 December 2024 – After two consecutive draws against Royal Union Saint-Gilloise and the Tottenham, Rome find the smile again in Europa League beating the Braga thanks to the networks of Pellegrini (which then also hits the crossbar), abdulhamid ed Beautiful: a booty paradoxically also rather small in proportion to the many, many chances created. However, the fact remains that since he arrived Ranieri, the fixer par excellence, the Giallorossi, now at a share 9 points in the standings, they are finally showing signs of compactness. There are some rough edges to be ironed out, such as the lack of cynicism, highlighted even more when the goalkeeper Matheus, the best of his team, gets sent off for a touch outside the area.

The official lineups

Ranieri choose a 3-4-2-1 that he sees between the posts Silker, XNUMX Mancini, Hummels e Ndicka in defense and abdulhamid e Zalewski as fifths: in the middle of the field there are pisilli e Koné, while in front there is Dybala, Supported by Soulé e Pellegrini. Carvalhal reply with a 4-3-3 open from Matheus, protected by Ferreira, Olive tree, Robson Bamboo e Fernandes. They are there in midfield Gorby, Moutinho e Gharbi, while the offensive department includes Martinez, El Ouazzani e Ricardo Horta.

First half

The first chance is of Portuguese brand, with Moutinho who pounces on a short rebound from Mancini and shoots from a good position, sending the ball sky-high. He then takes the stage Pellegrini, who first is providential with a header in his own penalty area and then, in the other, in the 10th minute unlocks the contest on a suggestion from Zalewski with a right-footed shot from the edge that leaves no escape for Matheus. The Rome insists and sends the shot pisilli, but this time the right is weak and imprecise. At 14' he does much better than usual Pellegrini, who receives a cross from Mancini and tries with his head: this time the crossbar says no. And yet, at this stage of the match, the ball is in the hands of the Braga, which however never manages to become dangerous in the vicinity of Silker. On the other side Pellegrini is on fire and at 23', on a pass from Soulé, hits the crossbar again: the Argentine's previous offside position erases any regrets.

At the half hour mark, the former Frosinone tries to remedy this by taking action on his own, recovering a great ball, which is then served to Koné, which in turn goes from Pellegrini, who immediately unleashes a curling shot: the visiting defense struggles to take refuge in a corner that will generate a dangerous exchange of blows. At 33' Dybala he puts in a cross for Koné, anticipated at the last minute: the Jewel then he takes the stage with his left-handedness, but Matheus this time he has no problems. At the end of the first half the workload increases for the visiting goalkeeper, among other things in front of the Giallorossi defenders: he goes up first Mancini, who unleashes a right-footed rocket sent over the crossbar by Matheus, which is then repeated on a conclusion of Ndicka made even more dangerous by a deflection. The referee Siebert assign only 1' recovery time, during which nothing else happens: the teams return to the locker rooms separated by just one goal, and the deal is all for the Braga, which apart from the initial flare-up of Moutinho he didn't do anything else.

Second half

Ranieri leave in the changing rooms Dybala, detected by dovbyk, while on the other side Marine replace Robson Bamboo. The news does not change the script of the match, because at 47' the Rome doubles thanks to abdulhamid, who with a powerful right foot shot sends the ball under the crossbar, where Matheus It can't happen: the goal is by the Saudi, but the credit goes almost entirely to Koné, who breaks through with power, resisting two goals. The Giallorossi insist and in the 51st minute they score the third goal thanks to the flying deflection of Mancini on the bomb of Ndicka, but once again the axe of offside strangles the cry of theOlympic. At 54' dovbyk throws in open field Zalewski, but he delays too much, allowing the Portuguese defense to fall back to a corner. For Carvalhal it's a good opportunity to let in Zalazar e Andre Horta for Mourinho e Ricardo Horta. At 58' Matheus he comes out badly on a high ball, which then ricochets into a dangerous area of ​​the body Fernandes: for Siebert the touch is not punishable by penalty. In the 61st minute the visiting goalkeeper redeems himself with a great double save on Soulé: a corner is created which sees Hummels stand out and commit one more time Matheus decisive in the two-handed save. At 64' Ndicka spear for Soulé, which in turn goes from pisilli, who from inside the area incredibly fails to find the goal.

Shortly after it's the turn of Soulé waste another chance of a hat-trick with a left-footed volley that ends up over the crossbar: once again Koné had raised his voice in midfield, left-footing meters and opponents with pure power. At 68' the Braga loses his best man, Matheus, guilty of having touched the ball outside the area to tackle abdulhamid, Searched by Ndicka: the sacrificed of Carvalhal to make room for the second goalkeeper Hornicek è GharbiThe subsequent free kick from the three-quarter line does not bear fruit and so Ranieri changes again, giving rest to the owners: they go out Soulé, Pellegrini e Hummels and they enter El Shaarawy, Saelemaekers ed Beautiful. Despite the match now being uphill, the Braga, which now sees on the field Fernandez Jaén for El Ouazzani, try reopening it with Marine, who in the 77th minute from a tight angle hits the outside of the net. Shortly after Zalazar try to invent for Fernandez Jaen, which unloads a left-handed prey of Silker despite a deviation. The Rome returns to attack in the 79th minute and becomes very dangerous with El Shaarawy, who first sees his right-footed shot blocked off the line by friendly fire from dovbyk and then he tries with a reverse prey of Hornicek.

At 81' the Faraone he tries again with an assist from a tireless Koné, but his right-footed shot is a phone call for the new visiting goalkeeper: in the 83rd minute the conclusion from outside is always El Shaarawy instead it doesn't quite hit the target. Ranieri closes the substitutions by inserting The Fee for pisilli, but the script doesn't change: the Rome dominates and creates opportunity after opportunity without converting them. In the 87th minute dovbyk there is no contact with the ball on a pass from abdulhamid: El Shaarawy he gets into the action and tries to close it out as best he can, but a deflection from the visitors is worth another turn from the corner. Shortly after dovbyk commits twice Hornicek in a matter of seconds: first with his foot and then with his head, but the duel is always won by the visiting goalkeeper. The latter succumbs in the second of the 4' of recovery assigned by Siebert when Beautiful corrects the conclusion in the bag with a tap-in Ndicka from the developments of yet another corner kick. It's the icing on a delicious cake and, perhaps, rather bare due to the many chances created.