September 30, (THEWILL) – In the second round of Group C matches in the UEFA European Conference League, Roma beat Zorya Luhask 3-0 at the Slavutych-Arena, Zaporizhzhya in Ukraine, with goals from Tammy Abraham, Stephan El Shaarawy and Chris Smalling.
Roma manager Jose Mourinho shuffled his side for the trip to Ukraine, after their weekend loss to Lazio.
Inspired inclusion El Shaarawy slipped the offside trap on an Ebrima Darboe slide-rule pass and dribbled past the goalkeeper to score into an empty net after only six minutes.
The Little Pharaoh, as El Shaarawy is fondly known, almost had a second, but his curler, from a Lorenzo Pellegrini pass, was palmed away by Zorya goalkeeper, Dmytro Matsapura, and Eldor Shomurodov was prevented by an outstretched leg.
Rui Patricio, the Roma keeper, had to be alert for a poor Chris Smalling back-pass, and Carles Perez stung Matsapura’s gloves on the counter from another superb Darboe ball as the game progressed.
Darboe remained impressive throughout, forcing another fine save from Matsapura. Then, Mourinho’s savvy adjustments allowed Roma to take complete control. The manager replaced Shomurodov with Tammy Abraham and the Englishman was an immediate menace for the Zorya backline.
Smalling nodded in a corner from close range to double the lead for Roma six minutes after the hour mark before Abraham thumped the upright from about the same distance as Smalling’s goal.
Abraham fnally got his goal, finishing calmly from what appeared to be an offside position. However, the goal stood after a review showed that the final ball was played by a defender.
Patricio preserved his clean sheet with the final kick of the game thanks to his save and a goal-line clearance by Riccardo Calafiori.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
