AS Roma finally won in the Champions League on Tuesday night, thrashing Slovan Bratislava 4-0 at the Stadio Olimpico — on an evening when the visitors did not manage a single shot. Mario Hermoso and Nahuel Molina scored before half-time, Niccolò Pisilli added a third and Donyell Malen converted a penalty, as Gian Piero Gasperini's side claimed the first victory of their league-phase campaign in total comfort.
Hermoso and Molina put Roma in command
Roma arrived still chasing a first win after fumbling a 3-1 lead to lose 4-3 to Real Madrid last week, and they never looked like letting this one slip. They had 70 per cent of the ball even in a controlled start, and on 21 minutes Hermoso headed in Daniele Ghilardi's cross for 1-0. Molina doubled the lead on 39 minutes, finishing after Malen's brilliant run tore Slovan open, with the goal sequence recorded by Football Italia's liveblog.
Slovan, pointless and already beaten heavily in this league phase, offered nothing in return: no shots, no corners of note, and a single yellow card for Tigran Barseghyan in a first half that was over as a contest long before the whistle.
Pisilli and Malen finish the job — at a price
The second half brought one cloud: captain Lorenzo Pellegrini was forced off injured on 51 minutes, replaced by Matías Soulé. Within a minute Roma had their third anyway, Pisilli scoring from Malen's pass on 52 minutes, and Malen himself made it 4-0 from the penalty spot on 58 minutes before being withdrawn to applause. The full goal sequence is in the Bundesliga.com liveticker.
The final numbers were startling: Roma 22 shots to Slovan's zero, nine on target, eight corners — and a clean sheet goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini earned without making a save. Slovan collected three yellow cards and, remarkably, did not test him once. After the heartbreak of the Madrid collapse at the Olimpico, this was the opposite kind of European night.
Gasperini also used the night to spread minutes around his squad — five substitutions, with Soulé, Santiago Castro and Devyne Rensch all involved — a luxury this fixture list rarely offers. It was a far cry from the build-up to the Madrid game, when the Olimpico return of José Mourinho dominated the pre-match talk; this time Roma's own players owned the occasion from the first whistle to the last, and the home crowd serenaded a side that is beginning to look comfortable at this level again.
So what: Roma up to four points, Slovan adrift
Roma climb to four points — a draw, the Madrid defeat and this win — and into 13th place in the league phase, firmly inside the play-off positions with five matches to play. Just as valuable is the goal difference: a four-goal win repairs much of the damage Madrid inflicted, and Gasperini's side suddenly look like a team finding its rhythm in Europe.
Slovan remain on zero points from three games, bottom of the 36-team table with a goal difference deep in negative territory. A side that cannot register a shot in 90 minutes has no realistic route to the top 24, and their remaining fixtures now look like damage limitation.
Beyond the Final Whistle: you can only beat what is put in front of you, and Roma were ruthless, professional and — for once at home in Europe this season — utterly untroubled. Malen's goal and assist crowned a fine night, but Pellegrini's injury is the one concern Gasperini takes away from a perfect evening. Slovan's zero-shot performance, meanwhile, may be the worst by any side in this season's competition. Was this Roma clicking into gear, or simply a gift of a fixture? Let us know in the comments.
