Claudio Ranieri’s Roma side defeated former champions Eintracht Frankfurt to secure their place in the UEFA Europa League play-off round, extending their winning streak to seven matches at the Stadio Olimpico.
It was a dominant first half for Roma, who put Frankfurt under pressure. Kevin Trapp saved Artem Dovbyk from getting on the end of a through ball, while Angeliño should have done better with a shot from inside the penalty area. Roma finally broke the deadlock when Angeliño made up for his earlier miss, arriving at the back post to volley home a cross from Gianluca Mancini.
In the second half, Roma looked more nervous and lacked the intensity of the first, but they regained control midway through. Eldor Shomurodov scored the second goal after a defensive mix-up from Eintracht, giving Roma some breathing room.
A loss would have seen Roma knocked out, but they held on to progress. Paulo Dybala nearly made it 3-0 with a shot from the edge of the box, and Shomurodov came close to a second goal. In the end, Roma’s 2-0 win secured their spot in the knockouts, where they will face either Ferencvárosi or FC Porto. Despite the loss, Eintracht Frankfurt remained in the top eight, so they’ll skip the play-offs and enter the last-16.
