Second half strikes by Alessandro Florenzi and Edin Dzesko saw Roma claim a 2-0 victory on home soil at Stadio Olimpico against Juventus, while Cristiano Ronaldo had a goal disallowed.
The Bianconeri came into the game off the back of two successive 1-1 draws to Inter and Torino respectively, and they were looking to bounce back with a win, all while eager to make a good first impression in their new kit for next season, which they debuted.
MIRANTE VS DYBALA
Cuadrado was the first to test Mirante in goal when he burst into the box and got onto the end of an Emre Can ball, who rolled the ball across the face of goal. He then fired at goal but the Roma shot-stopper pulled off a good save to end it out of play with six minutes on the clock. Ten minutes later, the Giallorossi keeper pulled off yet another excellent save. Ronaldo cut in from the left and dribbled his way past defenders to set up Dybala, who then curled it towards goal and forced Mirante into making a one-handed save.
Roma responded with an excellent of their own when Pellegrini ran down the centre of the field before unleashing an effort that struck Szczesny’s crossbar. Dybala and Mirante continued their duel just before the half hour mark when the Argentina struck a blasting ball that was turned onto the inside of upright by Mirante before bouncing back out. However, replays later showed that Emre Can was in an offside position at the time of La Joya’s hit.
RONALDO GOAL DISALLOWED, FLORENZI SCORES
After the break, two chances fell to El Shaaraway: the first was hit away by the Bianconeri, the second was fired wide of the target. Ronaldo had the ball in the back of the net in the 63rd minute of play when Dybala unleashed a ball across to the Portuguese striker, who made no mistake in beating Mirante, only for it to be ruled out for offside.
The game started to open up a bit and a chance fell on either end of the park when Mirante denied Emre Can from close range, while El Shaarawy was denied by Szczesny, who tipped his effort over the crossbar. Roma took the lead when he beat the offside trap to run down the ball inside the box following a give and go with Dzeko. He went one-on-one with Szczesny and chipped the ball over the goalkeeper to turn the scoreline to 1-0 with 10 minutes remaining on the clock.
DZEKO WRAPS IT UP
Moments later, the scoreline could have very well been doubled, when Dzeko sent the ball across the face of goal but no one was there to meet it. Allegri then opted for a double change with six minutes left on the clock, by introducing Alex Sandro and Cancelo in place of Matuidi and De Sciglio respectively. The scoreline was wrapped up by Dzeko deep inside stoppage time when a counter-attack led by Under saw him roll the ball across to the Bosnian, who beat Tek from 12-yards out. Roma 2-0 Juventus.
Roma: Mirante; Florenzi, Manolas, Fazio, Kolarov; Zaniolo, Nzonzi, Pellegrini (Cristante 67’); Kluivert (Under 77’), Dzeko, El Shaarawy
Juventus: Szczesny; De Sciglio (Cancelo 84’), Caceres, Chiellini, Spinazzola; Emre Can, Pjanic (Bentancur 70’), Matuidi (Alex Sandro 84’); Cuadrado, Dybala, Ronaldo
Substitutes: Pinsoglio, Del Favero, Barzagli, Alex Sandro, Cancelo, Bentancur, Pereira da Silva, Kastanos, Nicolussi Caviglia.