Europa League, Tottenham-Roma 2-2

Proof of Roma’s pride who went behind twice but managed to leave the Tottenham Stadium unscathed. It ends 2-2 with the hosts scored with Son from a penalty in the 5th minute and Johnson in the 33rd minute and the guests responded with Ndicka in the 20th minute and Hummels in the 91st minute. Dybala and his teammates are now in 21st place with 6 points, fully in the race for a place in the Europa League playoffs, while Tottenham are 9th with 10 points and still in line with direct qualification to the round of 16. In two weeks Roma will face Braga at the Olimpico; for the Spurs instead an away match in Glasgow against the Rangers.

The match

The match started on an uphill climb for the Romans who fell behind after 5 minutes. Sarr enters the area and anticipates Hummels who knocks him down. The referee awards the penalty and from 11 meters Son beats Svilar to give Spurs the lead. The Giallorossi reacted and equalized in the 20th minute. From the development of a free kick from the left taken by Dybala, Ndicka breaks away in the center of the area and beats Forster. In the 22nd minute the overtaking goal was disallowed for offside by El Shaarawy. In the 26th minute Roma made a triple save after a clumsy exit by Svilar, in the end saving first Angelino and then the goalkeeper himself.

In the 28th minute Roma were still close to taking the lead, Dybala worked a good ball to the limit and shot to the near post: a great save from Forster. A minute later Paredes and Kulusevski were booked for mutual misconduct. In the 33rd minute the home team took the lead again: Kulusevski had space on the left and managed to gain the back, the ball in the middle, Johnson arrived in tow to beat Svilar. In the 36th minute Tottenham were still dangerous with Kulusevski entering the area and shooting, the ball on the post, on the rebound Son sent it over the crossbar.

At the start of the second half, in the 3rd minute, a dangerous counterattack by Tottenham, with Kulusevski who was closed by Hummels at the conclusion. In the 5th minute Paredes tries from outside the area, a shot well wide. In the 9th and 10th minutes two more Giallorossi goals were disallowed. On the first occasion Koné scores but Dovbyk’s offside is evident, on the second the Ukrainian striker scores, anticipating Forster but once again in an irregular position.

In the quarter of an hour Celik goes away to the right and puts a cross at the far post which Angelino arrives and volleys but the ball ends up against the crossbar. The Londoners reply with Porro hitting the crossbar from a free kick. Immediately afterwards great save by Paredes on Son. In the 20th minute, first substitution for Ranieri with Zalewski replacing Celik. In the 22nd minute, a chance for Koné: his shot goes just wide. Another change in Roma with Saelemaekers for El Shaarawy; Postecoglu instead brings in Maddison and Bissouma, Johnson and Sarr come out.

In the 26th minute, a dangerous restart by Spurs concluded by Solanke: Svilar responded presently. In the 32nd minute another double change for Tottenham: Son and Bentancur come out, Werner and Bergvall come on. In the 36th minute Solanke hit the crossbar squarely, pardoning Roma. In the 39th minute Hummels also tries with a half-acrobatics but the shot goes off at the top of the net. In the first minute of injury time Hummels scored the equaliser.