Roma wanted to beat Eintracht Frankfurt within the last spherical of the Europa League group stage to make sure of a spot within the play-offs, they usually did so, courtesy of targets 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 objective. 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 laborious 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 proper. Fares Chaibi and Jean Matteo Bahoya had been the pair closest to striker Hugo Ekitike.
Key moments
Eintracht entered the competition with willpower and appeared to be establishing some stage 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 stunned 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 exterior 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 received on the tip of a superb cross and compelled Svilar right into a advantageous save.
However from that time on, it was all about Roma attacking and Eintracht attempting to defend. Dybala gained a free-kick a yard exterior the field within the twenty eighth minute and took it himself, hitting it excessive over the bar. The Argentinian ahead took a great nook seven minutes later and Mancini rose highest, coming closest to scoring but as his header bounced off the publish. Hummels tried subsequent, his header going straight at Trapp, after which the time had come for the impasse to be damaged.
A powerful strain from Roma resulted in a advantageous Mancini cross 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 online, and Roma went to the break with a deserved lead. The objective was given to Angelino, but it surely’s questionable if it will’ve gone in after the primary deflection, had it not been for Tuta redirecting it in.
Eintracht had an ideal probability to attract again stage 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 online. Eight minutes later, the guests carried out a great staff transfer and entered the Roma field, however they finally overcomplicated the matter and enabled the house aspect to remain on high.
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 manner for Bryan Cristante and Matias Soule. Eintracht coach Toppmoller clearly wanted to vary a number of issues as nicely, 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 dropping power 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, maintaining possession beneath sturdy strain vast on the proper, and it led to Shomurodov in some way squeezing the ball previous Trapp to attain the second objective 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.
Last rankings
Roma’s victory was clearly of nice significance. The Serie A aspect have thus managed to qualify for the play-offs, the place they are going to face Porto away on February thirteenth, after which once more at dwelling every week later. However first, they’ve some necessary work to do domestically, going through Serie A leaders Napoli, AC Milan within the Coppa Italia quarterfinals, and Venezia.
As for Eintracht, this defeat may have harm their delight however nothing extra. They completed fifth and can skip the play-offs, they usually 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 aspect FCSB.
However in the intervening time, Toppmoller and his gamers shall be totally targeted on their upcoming Bundesliga conflict with Wolfsburg on Sunday.
