Roma ended their run of three straight defeats in emphatic fashion, as the Lupi dominated proceedings en route to a 4-0 victory over Lecce at the Stadio Olimpico.
The star of the match was Henrikh Mkhitaryan, as the Armenian registered a goal and an assist for the first time since February 2019 when he did so for Arsenal against Bournemouth.
Cengiz Under, Edin Dzeko and Aleksandar Kolarov added the others in a match that was only ever going to have one winner, as Paulo Fonseca’s men bossed proceedings from start to finish, while Fabio Liverani will be wondering why his men were so poor given they entered the match having won three in a row.
Roma were quick out of the gate, but Lorenzo Pellegrini and Dzeko wasted their chances in disappointing fashion.
It was a sign of things to come as the home side took the lead after 13 minutes. Mkhitaryan ignored Dzeko as the Bosnian looked to be in an offside position, and instead picked out Under who calmly burst through the Lecce defence and slotted home.
Dzeko and Under linked up well, only for the Bosnian to once again send his shot off the mark, with Pellegrini following suit minutes later after another fine pass by the striker.
Lecce’s only chance of the half came via a Roma mistake, as Bruno Peres couldn’t decide what to do with the ball after Gianluca Mancini fell heavily after trying to clear the ball. Luckily for the Brazilian and the Giallorossi, Chris Smalling did enough to block Zan Majer’s effort.
Roma doubled their advantage in the 37th with Dzeko once again in the heart of proceedings. The Bosnian picked out Mkhitaryan with a great pass, and the Armenian fired low and past an on-rushing Mauro Vigorito.
Lecce showed no signs of reopening the match, as Fabio Liverani’s men failed to carve out anything of substance in attack.
Thus Roma were able to manage the game with ease before wrapping up proceedings in the 69th minute. Kolarov rolled in a cross that Dzeko tapped home, but only after Vigorito stopped the initial effort. The Bosnian’s celebration was subdued as the goal was initially ruled offside, but it was eventually given.
Lecce’s only real chance came when Mario Mancosu picked out Gianluca Lapadula with a ball over the top. Although the Italian volleyed a great effort on goal, the spectacular attempt was cruelly denied by the post.
From there Kolarov added a fourth after a well-worked team move, as Dzeko and Carles Perez linked up before picking out the Serbian, who fired home at the back post.
The result sees Roma move to within three points of Atalanta for fourth, though La Dea have a game in end as their match against Sassuolo on Sunday was one of several matches postponed due to the outbreak of the coronavirus in Italy.
Source: forzaitalianfootball.com