By Petar Todorovski
Roma beat Lecce on Stadio Comunale Via del Mare to record another victory that makes reachable the Champions League spot for next year. Lecce had very important point in the relegation battle until the last moments of the match when David Pizarro brought 2-1 win from penalty.
The game started slowly, as Lecce defense was excellent organized in order to win the so needed one point. They had the first opportunity, in 25th minute when the free kick of Ruben Olivera ended inches over.
Nevertheless, Lupi scored first from the first real chance. Mirko Vucinic individual effort gave them 1-0 lead in 32nd minute, a goal that was not celebrated by the former Lecce star.
Then the match continued with injuries. Moments after Roma lost Marco Cassetti, Danielle De Rossi furiously tackled Gustavo with two legs, leaving the Lecce player lying on the field. He was fortunate to receive only yellow card, just like Gustavo was happy to leave the field on his own legs. Before the break Carlos Grossmuller also left the game because of injury.
Lecce was the team who first treated in the second half. Ruben Olivera’s volley from 30 yards finished in the woodwork, while Corvia’s header minutes after was saved by Doni.
However, the hard work finally paid off in 75th minute. Guillermo Gonzalo Giacomazzi was the man who put his team in position to empower the chances of avoiding relegation. He managed to stay free in the box and net with a header.
The game proceeded with more hard tackles, with Javier Ernesto Chevanton as only player who had opportunity to score. Roma had the last chance to win, and used it, when Munari played with hand in the box which meant penalty. Marco Borriello and David Pizarro had a little argument before the Chilean convert the kick into goal and bring three important points.
Roma coach Vincenzo Montella was delighted by the win. “We sat back a bit too much in the second half, putting less pressure on their midfield, then there was the incident that led to Lecce’s goal. The fact remains our hunger won out and we deserved the victory, as in terms of quality and overall performance Roma did better than Lecce. It is a psychological issue that made the team tense after conceding so many goals in the same period of games,” said the tactician.
Now Roma is sixth with only four points behind the fourth place Udinese. Their next game is in Donetsk, facing with Shakhtar in Cahmpions League. After the very probable elimination, they’ll have the chance to focus completely on Serie A.
