Italian Serie A - Match Review: Roma versus Lecce
Roma and Lecce played out an interesting Italian league encounter at the Stadio Olimpico. It was Roma who started with the more attacking lineup as Ranieri opted to start the likes of; Sergio, Juan, Burdisso, Riise, Cassetti, Brighi,
De Rossi, Vucinic, Totti and Boriello.
On the other hand, Lecce started with Rosati, Gustavo, Ferrario, Mesbah, Vives, Giacomazzi, Piatti, Munari, Corvia, Olivera and Di Michele. Roma were the team on the front foot right from the start of the match as in the 14th
minute of the match, Julio Sergio mad a great save for Roma as Lecce attacked once again. Daniele Corvia tried to get a shot off on target but he missed the ball. This caused confusion inside the Roma penalty as their defender Juan shot the ball at his own
goalkeeper!
However, Sergio was on hand to save his defender some blushes as Roma maintained parity with Lecce. In the 17th minute of the match, Lecce were forced into making their first change of the match as Stefano Ferrario limped
off the field. The Italian was replaced by Alberto Giuliatto from the Lecce bench.
In the 23rd minute, Roma spread their wings as Marco Cassetti whipped in an accurate ball from the right hand side for Marco Boriello. However, the ex-A.C Milan striker headed the ball over from the near post position
that he had occupied for Roma. In the 25th minute of the match, Vucinic had another attempt on goal but this team the Montenegrin centre forward only found Antonio Rosati’s stomach. Vucinic was Roma’s standout player in the first half of the match.
In the 30th minute of the match, Vucinic picked out Totti who rode a tackle before firing a shot off on target. The shot was eventually saved by Rosati as the move died down for Roma once again. In the 33rd
minute Roma had another chance to get the opening goal but Marco Boriello’s shot found the bar rather than the back of the Lecce net. Roma had plenty of chances to open the scoring in the first half of the match but their wastefulness in front of goal coupled
with the brilliant form of Rosati denied them a goal in the first half of the match. The first period ended at the score line of nil all between Roma and Lecce.
In the 48th minute right after the second half resumed, Roma made their first change of the match as Cicinho replaced Marco Cassetti at the right back position for the men in maroon and orange. Shortly after the substitution,
Lecce almost found the back of the net but they were denied a goal by Segio’s acrobatics as the goalkeeper palmed away Rubén Olivera’s shot on target. Lecce dominated the early exchanges of the second half as in the 50th minute, Olivera slipped
in a wonderful through ball for David Di Michele, who skewed his shot wide. In reality the former West Ham man should’ve done better with his finish.
Daniele Corvia got tackled by Juan in the 58th minute of the match. The tackle propelled the referee to book the Roman Brazilian centre back. It was Roma’s first yellow card of the match. However, it was finally Roma
who drew first blood as Nicolas Burdisso met with John Arne Riise’s cross from the left hand side of attack. The Argentinean buried the header into the bottom right hand corner of the Lecce net to give his team a well deserved lead. After the goal went in,
in the 62nd minute of the match, Roma were on the verge of adding another one to their lead as Boriello’s header just clipped the bar on its way over the woodwork.
Despite going a goal down, Lecce didn’t give up. In fact Roma sat back after getting the lead and invited pressure on from the visitors. This indeed was a smart move by the Roman club as they caught Lecce out on the counter attack
in the 76th minute of the match. On the break, Vucinic was played in by Totti as the Montenegrin striker finished off expertly to put the game out of Lecce’s reach. However in the post goal celebrations, Totti and Ruben Olivera got into a nasty
fight and as a result both of them were shown the red card by the referee.
The match eventually ended at two all with both the teams down to ten men. It was a comprehensive win for Roma who dominated the match from start to end.
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