Lorenzo Pellegrini came off the bench to rescue AS Roma with a late equaliser as they drew 1-1 with Bologna in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League last-16 tie at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara on Thursday night.
It was a fairly dull opening 45 minutes, with both sides struggling to find any real rhythm. Roma looked the sharper of the two and carved out the best chance of the half when Bryan Zaragoza burst through on the counter, only to drag his shot wide with the goal at his mercy. Donyell Malen was Roma’s most dangerous player throughout, and Svilar was also forced into a smart save just before the break to keep out a long-range Bernardeschi effort.
Bologna came out with far more intent after the interval and took the lead just four minutes in. Jonathan Rowe played a clever ball into the right channel to free up Bernardeschi, who curled an unstoppable angled drive beyond Svilar and into the far corner, a goal of real quality.
Roma refused to buckle. Malen continued to cause problems and Svilar bravely denied Pobega as the game opened up. The equaliser eventually came when Cristante forced a mistake on the left flank and his through ball sent Malen towards goal. Skorupski kept it out, but Pellegrini was quickest to react to the loose ball, calmly slotting home from 10 yards.
The closing stages were breathless, with Malen hitting the post and Bologna substitute Lykogiannis heading against the crossbar deep into stoppage time. Ultimately, a draw was a fair result and the tie remains perfectly poised ahead of the second leg in Rome on 19th March.
