Roma falls to Holland, beaten 1-0 by Az Alkmaar

The path in the Europa League is further complicated for Roma. Claudio Ranieri’s team loses 1-0 in Holland against AZ Alkmaar and remains on 9 points in the standings with one matchday to go in the championship phase.

In the next round, Thursday 30 January, Roma will host Eintracht at the Olimpico, but a different attitude will be needed to win the three points. Claudio Ranieri had described AZ as a team that “runs forward, goes into transition and attacks the goal”. The description is faithful to the match plan adopted by Martens’ team, which in the first half left possession to Roma (57%), but kicked several times (4 to 1) towards the goal defended by Svilar.

The clearest opportunity comes from Meerdink who in the 41st minute, after an involuntary assist from Ndicka, shoots high from an inviting position. Roma – on the pitch with Celik and Pisilli in place of Mancini and Pellegrini – struggled to build play. The only Giallorossi to kick on goal in the first 45′ was Dovbyk, who in the 29th minute unloaded his left foot and found the response with a dive from Owusu-Oduro.

It was the Ukrainian (warned in the 19th minute for a blow to Goes) who made way for Soule’ at half-time. Without the solution of the long ball, Roma are forced to maneuver and in the 49th minute they come close to scoring: Angelino from rabona catches Dybala in the area who fails to hit the target with his first-time left foot. However, as the minutes pass, the pace drops. This is also why Ranieri chose to play the El Shaarawy card in the 74th minute, taking Saelemaekers’ place.

Roma take control of the match, but take a big risk in the 76th minute, when Maikuma fails to head well at the far post after a cross from the right. It’s the dress rehearsal for the goal that arrives in the 80th minute: Clasie works a ball for Wolfe, who crosses to the center for Parrott’s winning touch. A goal that allows the Dutch to overtake the Giallorossi in the standings (11 points against 9). The away taboo continues for Ranieri.