Rome-Salernitana 2-2, goals from Candreva, El Shaarawy, Dia and Matic

Roma had to win to stay in the running for the Champions League and put their heads back in front of Atalanta, Salernitana had nothing to play for except the pride of a place that now fits really well in Serie A. The result was a strange game (2-2), with the grenades ahead twice (Candreva and Dia) and Roma always finding the energy (El Shaarawy and Matic) to avoid defeat. The head of the Giallorossi is already in Budapest, obviously the team can’t go around the clock. On the other hand, Sousa’s boys did well, playing yet another good game in this second part of the season.

Guide Sousa

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Mourinho relaunches from the start two of the doc injured, Smalling and El Shaarawy, placing Bove to play arm in arm between the three in defense, after he had finished from fifth on the right in Leverkusen. However, the alarm comes from Dybala, who doesn’t even go to the bench. “The blow taken in Bergamo was tremendous, Paulo is recovering – GM Pinto said at the start of the match – Paulo didn’t feel at 100% and we decided to let him rest. The goal is obviously to bring him in the best possible condition to the final Budapest”. This is how we play, with the Giallorossi out of balance and with an improvised team, which Mou tries to fix after 15 minutes, switching to a 4-3-2-1. A vain attempt, also because in the meantime Salernitana had already passed through Candreva in the 12th minute, on the developments of a nice pass by Coulibaly. Then Roma also loses its Curva, which removes banners and stops cheering (emptiness slowly) in protest against the forces of order and the denial of entry for a commemorative banner against Roberto Rulli. And then Salernitana is above all making the game, with Kastanos and Bohinen trying from outside. The Giallorossi replies are all in a volley from El Shaarawy and a gallop from Zalewski (with both shots wide). Then in full stoppage time Ibanez finds the equalizer in the scrum, but with the help of the Var the referee Colombo cancels for a hand ball by Belotti.

Matic decides

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In the second half Mou runs for cover and immediately sends in Llorente, Pellegrini and Matic (out Tahirovic, Solbakken and Ibanez). And the move immediately pays off, because in the 2nd minute Pellegrini engages Ochoa with a free-kick and El Shaarawy equalizes in the rebound. Now Roma is alive, but in the 9th minute Salernitana comes back forward with a nice heel in the run under the port of Dia. Then there are the Giallorossi protests over an alleged holdup by Daniliuc on Wijnaldum, with Roma now raising their center of gravity and trying to make themselves more dangerous than they did during the first half. Mazzocchi (replaced Kastanos) starts pushing on the accelerator on the right, Belotti devours the tie and Mou also sends in Abraham (for Wijnaldum). But Salernitana controls the game well in the middle and also tries to hurt in the spaces with the restarts. Abraham and Cristante try almost at the end, but Matic finds the equalizer with strength in the melee. Then it is Zalewski who tries the shot from outside, El Shaarawy scares Ochoa and Cristante has a good chance with a header. It ends with the beginning of a fight due to a restraint by Zalewski on Dia and the reaction of the Senegalese. Then the final whistle, everyone goes home.