UEL: Roma defeated in Prague, Boniface scores in injury time for Bayer

The biggest game for every Roma fan will happen this Sunday, when hated Lazio will participate in Derby della Capitale. The prelude for the game already started on Wednesday, when Lazio coach Maurizio Sarri said that while Lazio were going ‘into war’ with Feyenoord on Tuesday, Roma would effectively be in a friendly match with Sparta Prague. Jose Mourinho slammed his rival by saying that Sarri rarely won anything while he has 26 trophies, and that there will be no friendly match with the Czech team, and he was right. Slavia Prague played in its full strength and won the game 2-0, thus complicating Roma’s position in the group G. The Giallorossi wanted a win to secure the qualification to the elimination round but to also secure the first place and avoid playing playoffs with teams which will be eliminated from the Champions League, but the home team had other ideas.

Slavia Prague won every game in this group without conceding until that 2-0 defeat at the Olimpico against Roma, but it turns out to be only one bad night, as they continued their excellent streak with another home win with a clean sheet. Mourinho’s team again showed a bad display and won’t face Lazio in a good mood. The Portuguese decided to rotate players, as he did often in Europa League games, as Paulo Dybala started the game from the bench. Injured were Lorenzo Pellegrini, Chris Smalling, Leonardo Spinazzola, Tammy Abraham and Marash Kumbulla, while Nicola Zalewski has been struggling with flu symptoms. Lukaku has found the net in each of his last 14 Europa League appearances but was ineffective tonight, together with his partner Andrea Belotti.

The first half was a rather dull affair with Roma dictating the tempo but without much to show for (zero shots on goal). The hosts decided to push a bit more in the second half and it paid out. In the 50th minute, Masopust’s header was saved by Svilar, Chytil passed the rebound to Jurecka who scored. Svilar saved another good chance in the 60th minute before Masopust was totally unmarked in the 74th minute and released a precise right-foot strike into the far bottom corner for the final score. Slavia should have scored a third one in injury time, but Van Buren somehow managed to miss an empty net. The Czechs have now got into the first place, due to their better goal-difference, while Roma is in the second place. 

The leader of the Bundesliga got a bit lucky tonight as they were not on top of their game, but still managed a last-minute penalty win in Azerbaijan against Qarabag. Coach Xabi Alonso didn’t mix too much, as players like Boniface, Grimaldo, Xhaka and Wurtz all played, but it was the visitors who were better and even more dangerous than the Germans. Qarabag repeatedly had good opportunities but failed to take the lead, and then near the end, when they were already tired, Bayer forced the lead and won in this quality poor Group H.

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE

Group stage - matchday 4

Thursday

Ajax - Brighton 0-2 (0-1)

/Fati 15, Adingra 53/

LASK - Royale Union Saint-Gilloise 3-0 (2-0)

/Horvath 25, Talovierov 45+4, Zulj 77/

Maccabi Haifa - Villarreal 1-2 (1-0)

/Seck 32 - Baena 83, Sorloth 87/

Qarabag - Bayer Leverkusen 0-1 (0-0)

/Boniface 90+3 pen/

Rennes - Panathinaikos 3-1 (1-1)

/Rieder 9, Salah 65, Blas 70 pen - Ioannidis 34/

Servette - Sreriff Tiraspol 2-1 (0-1)

/Rouiller 84, Bedia 90 pen - Severin 12 og/

Slavia Prague - Roma 2-0 (0-0)

/Jurecka 50, Masopust 74/

Toulouse - Liverpool 3-2 (1-0)

/Donnum 36, Dallinga 58, Magri 76 - Casseres 74 og, Diogo Jota 89/

23:00: (1.15) Freiburg (8.00) TSC Backa Topola (16.0)

23:00: (1.67) West Ham (3.80) Olympiakos (5.30)

23:00: (2.55) AEK (3.50) Olympique Marseille (2.85)

23:00: (1.32) Betis (5.30) Aris Limmasol (9.50)

23:00: (2.10) Rangers (3.50) Sparta Praha (3.80)

23:00: (1.27) Atalanta (5.90) Sturm (10.5)

23:00: (1.25) Sporting (6.00) Rakow (11.0)

23:00: (2.75) Hacken (3.45) Molde (2.50)

***odds are subject to change***