Roma wanted to beat Eintracht Frankfurt within the closing spherical of the Europa League group stage to make certain of a spot within the play-offs, and so they did so, courtesy of objectives from Angelino within the forty fourth minute and substitute Eldor Shomurodov within the 69th.
The groups
Roma boss Claudio Ranieri had his full squad to select from for this recreation, a uncommon luxurious at this stage of the season.
Mile Svilar was in aim. The again line of three consisted of Evan Ndicka, Mats Hummels and Gianluca Mancini. Leandro Paredes and Manu Kone paired up in the midst of the park, flanked by wing-backs Alexis Saelemaekers and Angelino. Additional up, Lorenzo Pellegrini performed simply behind forwards Paulo Dybala and Artem Dovbyk.
Having simply parted methods with Omar Marmoush, who now performs for Manchester Metropolis, Eintracht had been with out Elye Wahi, Krisztian Lisztes, Mehdi Loune, Oscar Hojlund, and Eric Ebimbe.
Eintracht head coach Dino Toppmoller organized his males in a 3-4-2-1 form. With Kevin Trapp between the posts, Arthur Theate, Robin Koch and Tuta fashioned the again line. Hugo Larsson and Ellyes Shkiri had been tasked with the arduous work in the midst of the park, with Ansgar Knauff on the left flank and Rasmus Kristensen, who spent 2023/24 at Roma, on the appropriate. Fares Chaibi and Jean Matteo Bahoya had been the pair closest to striker Hugo Ekitike.
Key moments
Eintracht entered the competition with dedication and appeared to be establishing some degree of management, however Roma rapidly responded and pushed the guests again. There was a touch of an issue for the Giallorossi as Saelemaekers picked up a yellow card within the sixth minute already, for stopping an Eintracht counterattack with a deliberate foul.
However Roma quickly began threatening, and the primary actual probability got here to Dovbyk within the thirteenth minute, however the striker was clearly shocked by the sharpness of Angelino’s low cross which discovered him at six yards, and he did not get a correct shot off. Three minutes later, Saelemaekers narrowly missed the goal from simply outdoors the field.
It was Eintracht’s flip to trigger issues on the different finish at that time, and after Chaibi let one fly from vary and over the bar, Larsson obtained on the tip of a wonderful cross and compelled Svilar right into a fantastic save.
However from that time on, it was all about Roma attacking and Eintracht attempting to defend. Dybala received a free-kick a yard outdoors the field within the twenty eighth minute and took it himself, hitting it excessive over the bar. The Argentinian ahead took an excellent nook seven minutes later and Mancini rose highest, coming closest to scoring but as his header bounced off the submit. Hummels tried subsequent, his header going straight at Trapp, after which the time had come for the impasse to be damaged.
A robust strain from Roma resulted in a fantastic Mancini go discovering the run of Angelino on the sting of six yards, and the previous RB Leipzig left-back hit it first-time. The shot picked up a double deflection, off Trapp and Tuta, and bounced into the web, and Roma went to the break with a deserved lead. The aim was given to Angelino, however it’s questionable if it might’ve gone in after the primary deflection, had it not been for Tuta redirecting it in.
Eintracht had an amazing probability to attract again degree instantly. Not a minute of the second half had gone when Ekitike broke one-on-one with Svilar and even managed to get previous him, however the Roma goalkeeper recovered with nice agility to stop the Eintracht striker from hitting the again of the web. Eight minutes later, the guests performed an excellent staff transfer and entered the Roma field, however they finally overcomplicated the matter and enabled the house facet to remain on prime.
The sport picked up tempo in that interval, with the ball transferring rapidly from one finish to the opposite, and Roma boss Ranieri felt he wanted to react to gradual issues down. Paredes and Saelemaekers made means for Bryan Cristante and Matias Soule. Eintracht coach Toppmoller clearly wanted to vary just a few issues as properly, as his staff step by step relinquished initiative. Mahmoud Dahoud and Can Uzun got here on as extra attack-minded alternate options to Larsson and Knauff.
Ranieri should’ve additionally observed that Dovbyk was shedding energy at that time, and he withdrew the Ukrainian target-man in favour of Shomurodov, who boasts larger mobility.
The adjustments produced higher outcomes for Roma. Soule did some nice work on the ball within the 69th minute, protecting possession beneath sturdy strain vast on the appropriate, and it led to Shomurodov in some way squeezing the ball previous Trapp to attain the second aim for the Giallorossi. Eintracht defender Tuta, who had a “serving to” hand in Roma’s first, was unconvincing on this event once more.
Ranieri’s males succeeded in taking the sting out of the sport for the remaining 20 minutes, although Soule did make a mistake in his personal half which resulted in Uzun firing over the bar.
Remaining rankings
Roma’s victory was clearly of nice significance. The Serie A facet have thus managed to qualify for the play-offs, the place they may face Porto away on February thirteenth, after which once more at dwelling per week later. However first, they’ve some essential work to do domestically, dealing with Serie A leaders Napoli, AC Milan within the Coppa Italia quarterfinals, and Venezia.
As for Eintracht, this defeat may have harm their pleasure however nothing extra. They completed fifth and can skip the play-offs, and so they await their outcomes and the following draw, to find out their opponent within the spherical of 16. The groups they will face are Union SG, Ajax, PAOK, and Romanian facet FCSB.
However in the mean time, Toppmoller and his gamers might be totally centered on their upcoming Bundesliga conflict with Wolfsburg on Sunday.
