Roma Women finally have lift-off in the Champions League. Kayleigh van Dooren and Alayah Pilgrim struck inside nine first-half minutes as Roma beat Servette 2-1 at the Stadio Tre Fontane on Tuesday night — their first win, and their first goals, of this league phase.
Roma arrived on Matchday 4 in a strange position: top of Serie A Femminile without dropping a point domestically, yet 17th of 18 in Europe with a single point and not one goal scored in three matches — a goalless draw with OH Leuven sandwiched by defeats to Barcelona and Chelsea. The full Matchday 4 list on UEFA confirms Tuesday was the night that changed, even if Roma made their supporters sweat for it late on.
Van Dooren and Pilgrim break the duck
For 25 minutes it looked like the same story. Servette, whose defence had leaked goals all campaign, held out — and at the other end Magdalena Sobal twice forced Rachele Baldi into saves in the opening half hour.
Then Roma clicked. On 25 minutes, Kayleigh van Dooren opened the scoring, finishing right-footed into the bottom corner from Frederikke Thogersen's pass — Roma's first goal of the entire league phase. Nine minutes later the second arrived: Manuela Giugliano split the defence and Alayah Pilgrim swept home left-footed to make it 2-0.
Baldi still had to save from Ghoutia Karchouni before half-time as Servette refused to fold, but Roma went in with a cushion their European season had never known.
Marinelli penalty sets up a nervy finish
The second half should have been a procession. Instead, as the match record on Sky Sports shows, Servette kept coming — and on 71 minutes VAR awarded them a penalty after Baldi fouled Sobal in the box. Gloria Marinelli converted high into the centre on 74 minutes to halve the deficit, and was substituted moments later with Servette chasing an equaliser.
Roma had the chances to kill it: Martina Piemonte, on for Pilgrim, was twice denied by Jacintha Weimar, and Alice Corelli missed from close range. But the hosts held on through four minutes of added time, with Winonah Heatley and Paola Hernandez both booked in a frantic finish, to complete a big night for Italian clubs in this competition — even if City's win at Inter was the more emphatic one. Earlier, Chelsea were held in Gothenburg.
So what does this mean for Roma?
Four points from four games lifts Roma from 17th into the play-off places — the top four reach the quarter-finals directly, fifth to 12th go into the knock-out play-offs, and 13th to 18th are eliminated. With Benfica and a trip to Real Madrid still to come in December, Roma's fate is in their own hands.
For Servette, a third defeat leaves them on three points and with 16 goals conceded — the worst defensive record in the competition, including that 8-0 loss to Lyon. They must now beat OH Leuven and HB Koge and hope results elsewhere save them.
Beyond the Final Whistle: This is the result Roma's season needed. A team sweeping all before it in Italy had been playing European football like it did not belong — three games, no goals, one point. Van Dooren's opener changed the body language of the whole side. The play-offs are now a realistic target, and if Piovani's side can carry even half their domestic swagger into December, nobody in the play-off round will fancy a trip to Rome.
Can Roma finish the job and reach the knock-out play-offs, or will Benfica and Real Madrid prove a step too far? Let us know in the comments.
