Porto-Roma 1-1: Giallorossi come back, but precious equaliser after half an hour with ten men

Porto 13 February 2025 - It could have been a stinging defeat, instead the Roma close ranks and resist the assaults of the HarbourThe first episode of this play-off for the round of 1 of the Estadio Do Dragao ended 1-XNUMX. Europa League: to the advantage of Steel at the end of the first half, Moura responds in the second half. Crystalline commits the naivety of the second yellow, forcing his teammates to suffer for half an hour at the end, but in the end the boys of Ranieri they celebrate a draw that could be worth gold in view of the return match at the Olimpico. 

First half

In the challenge against the Giallorossi the Harbour relies on a three-man defense, with Djalo, Pérez e Otavio in the line ahead of Diogo Costa. Joao Mario and Moura run on the lanes alongside Eustaquio e Varela, the two midfielders for the Dragoes. Borges e blackberry support Omorodion in the offensive trident. Ranieri responds by choosing Mancini at the centre of defence supported by Steel e N'Dicka. Saelemaekers e Angelino are the two full-backs chosen by the Roman coach, while Crystalline e Koné they dictate the tempo in midfield. Dybala e Pellegrini instead they give quality and imagination behind dovbyk. 

The match was entertaining from the start with chances on both sides. Roma presses very high to take away the Portuguese's breathing space, on the other side however the Portuguese when they find space in depth always bring many men into attack. The first call up in attack is made by the hosts. On a corner kick for the Giallorossi, Saelemaekers misses the rebound on the fly, thus losing the ball and opening up the home team's counterattack. Luckily for the Giallorossi, the recovery of N'Dicka save Silker. The reaction of Roma between the 11th and 12th minutes with the first a lopsided attempt from the edge of the area dovbyk, then with Pellegrini, who tries a touch on goal after a scramble in the area, but Diogo Cantabrian blocks the ball. The pace is frenetic and before the quarter of an hour there is a second chance for the home team, but Mora does not take advantage of the dribble performed on Silker and is recovered from Crystalline, which frees.

The challenge is fun. The first quarter of an hour is almost frenetic, lived between many quick turnovers, with the defenses managing the ball in a rather hasty manner, before launching towards the depth. However, the two teams take their measure and compared to the first minutes they begin to manage their respective throws better. On the other hand, the physicality in the duels on the field increases, thus the first warnings arrive: Pellegrini is preferably used for Roma e Varela Warehouse Harbour are the first two to receive yellow cards in the match. Between the two warnings, the attempt in the area of Dybala on the shore of dovbyk, but the Joya's left-handed shot is unloaded and easily disarmed by Diogo Costa the land.

The Giallorossi increase the level of competitiveness on the pitch and with their counterattacks try to get their hands on the game. The raids of Angelino always put the Portuguese defence in difficulty, but they do not translate into goal opportunities. The yardstick of judgment is very severe, however. Stieler, who also warns Steel e Koné before the 35th minute of the match. The bad news for the Giallorossi, however, does not stop at the yellow cards alone, in fact at the 39th minute he raises the white flag due to the kick suffered by Varela, what had cost the player of the Harbour the warning, in its place comes Baldanzi.

Little football in the final minutes of the first half, including injury time, just a lot of nervousness and a list of warnings that continues to grow: also Moura e Saelemaekers in fact they end up in the notebook of StielerThe first half seems to end without any new excitement, football-wise, but the Roma he has other plans. Baldanzi resists a charge from a defender and breaks towards the penalty area. The playmaker serves Saelemaekers, the ball for dovbyk it is somewhat repelled, but it arrives at full speed Steel to push the ball into the goal for the advantage of the Capitoline. At the 50th minute of the first half Roma ahead at the Estadio Do Dragao and the first half ended with the score 0-1 for the team Ranieri.

Second half

Given the very severe yardstick in the first half, Ranieri two substitutions are played at half time, they come on pisilli ed El Shaarawy, they go out Koné e Saelemaekers. However, the Harbour in terms of men, but the home team changes a lot in terms of attitude. After just two minutes in the second half Moura comes very close to equalising. Side of Omorodion and holed in blackberry for the outside, but perfect exit of Silker to close the door. A big scare for the Giallorossi to start the second half. 

The Capitoline team manages to recover and despite giving their opponents much more space than in the first half, they are better organised and try on several occasions to organise dangerous counterattacks. Anselmi sees the race blocked and tries to push on the accelerator with two purely offensive changes: they enter Pepe e Scallop, they go out instead blackberry e Varela. Sliding doors of the match between the 66th and 67th minutes. In fact, following a corner kick, the team from the capital came within centimetres of doubling their lead. The header by Crystalline, is in fact somehow contained by Diogo Costa and then hit by a defender in the corner, before the tap-in Mancini. On the next corner kick the ball ends up out of bounds and quickly Diogo Costa relaunches in depth. Caught disorganized, Pepe arrives in the area, where however it is initially contained by the returning defenders. The ball however remains alive and Moura kicks towards the goal, finding a deflection of Baldanzi, useful for beating Silker. From a possible doubling for Roma, to the Portuguese draw, at the Estadio Do Dragao it's 1-1 between Harbour e Roma.

It's raining wet for the Roma, because shortly after the Portuguese equaliser and the entrance of Soulé for Pellegrini, Crystalline commits the most serious of naivety. Already cautioned, the midfielder holds Scallop and gets the second warning, which earns him a red card. Roma in dievi at 73', when a few seconds before he had been cautioned Otavio for the white and blues. More changes as the match enters its final quarter of an hour. Ranieri takes cover with the entry of Paredes for dovbyk; Anselmi instead he goes all-in on offense and inserts a new attacker in Namaste and takes away a central defender like Otavio.

The last ten minutes of the match were of total suffering for the Giallorossi: the Harbour with the extra man he constantly lives in the Roman half of the pitch, building a real siege on the Capitoline area. Despite this, however, the fort of the Roma and for the final Anselmi you also play cards Yellow e Zaidu, to Omorodion e Moura, to add freshness to the attack. In the minutes of recovery, cautioned Paredes e Baldanzi in an attempt to contain the final assault, but on every loose ball, on every cross, the players in yellow and red get there first. And this is precisely what allows the Roma to snatch a very precious draw, because when Stieler the whistle blows three times and the score is still 1-1. The verdict of this play-off is therefore postponed to the Olimpico, the Capitoline team avoids defeat despite having played half an hour with one man less.