Without shining, AS Roma celebrated their third league win in a row against FC Turin and jumped to a Champions League spot in the table. In the rematch for their recent cup exit, new signing Malen and Dybala impressed as a strong strike duo.
Roma and Torino had only met on Tuesday in the round of 16 of the Coppa Italia, with the Giallorossi losing 3-2 at their home stadium, the Stadio Olimpico. For the rematch in Serie A, Roma coach Gian Piero Gasperini made seven changes: former Frankfurt player Ndicka and former Gladbach player Koné moved into the starting lineup. In addition, Malen, who had only been loaned from Aston Villa on Friday, made his debut. The capital club had Torino, who are eleventh in the table, well under control – with Ngonge replacing Simeone as the only change from the cup upset – without shining themselves. However, Malen and Dybala immediately showed that they understand each other well on the pitch: First, the Dutchman failed to convert a pass from the Argentine due to a foot save by Paleari (20′), then “La Joya” put a pass from Malen just centimeters wide of the goal (22′).
The duo, who were really noticeable and played cheekily right from the start, finally put Roma in the lead – but it took two attempts: Malen’s first goal from Dybala’s pass was disallowed by VAR for offside (23′); three minutes later, there were no complaints about the World Cup winner’s pass. Former Dortmund player Malen was able to celebrate his first goal in his first Serie A appearance.
After that, little happened, and the game drifted along.
Roma only wake up after an hour
The visitors came back onto the pitch strangely passive after the break. As a result, Torino suddenly created a number of good chances to equalize. However, former Hertha player Lazaro aimed too centrally at Svilar (48′), Casadei didn’t put enough power behind a header (50′), and Ndicka prevented Ngonge from breaking through with a surgically precise tackle (51′).
It wasn’t until the 65th minute that Roma grew stronger again and sought to seal the deal. Dybala took control, his first shot was blocked, but the technically skilled attacker followed up with an outside-of-the-foot finish to make it 2-0 (72′). Malen almost added a third, but his shot from a tight angle only hit the side netting (76′) and he was substituted shortly afterwards after an impressive debut.
Roma welcomes Stuttgart to the Olimpico
The game was largely decided, with only Adams having the chance to make it exciting again, but he missed the equalizer by inches (80′). With their third league win in a row, Roma overtook Torino’s city rivals Juve in the table and jumped back into a Champions League spot.
Before the Giallorossi host second-placed Milan in a top-of-the-table clash at the Olimpico on Sunday (8:45 p.m.), they face VfB Stuttgart in the Europa League on Thursday. Torino are in action on Saturday at Lake Como.
