Venezia showcased a spirited performance at Stadio Olimpico as Roma surrendered to a 1-1 stalemate on Saturday evening.
A jammed stadium saw Jose Mourinho’s men hosting the team from Venice in their final home fixture of the 2021/22 Serie A season. The Giallorossi in the stands were not finished with their hooting and rooting following the kick-off, with David Okereke’s header from Mattia Aramu’s cross drawing the first blood. It was one of the fastest goals scored in Serie A this season.
Sofian Kiyine got the referee’s marching order after a serious foul play against Lorenzo Pellegrini. Kiyine’s red card for violent conduct proved too costly for the soon-to-be-relegated side as they went down to ten men. However, the first half ended in Roma going to the dressing room with a 1-0 deficit.
On the back of a tepid first-half display, the start to the second half witnessed Mourinho making three changes at halftime. Eldor Shomurodov pounced on the ball as soon as Pellegrini’s strike was pushed away by Niki Mäenpää. Mäenpää did fail to do the same on the second occasion as Shomurodov equalised for the team in misery.
Despite producing a plethora of scorable opportunities, Roma could not break the Venezia wall for the second time on the night, with Mäenpää amassing 16 saves throughout the game. Hitting the crossbar appeared normal for Roma as the Giallorossi are no more the decider of their European fate in the league. Here are the player ratings from Roma’s draw against 10-man Venezia.
Roma (3-4-2-1): Rui Patrício (6); Kumbulla (6), Smalling (6.5), Ibañez (5.5); Spinazzola (6.5), Cristante (6.5), Maitland-Niles (5.5), Veretout (6); Carles Pérez (6), Pellegrini (7), Abraham (5.5)
Substitutes: Zalewski (6.5), El Shaarawy (6), Karsdorp (6), Shomurodov (6.5), Volpato (N/A)
Venezia (3-4-2-1): Mäenpää (9); Ampadu (7.5), Ceccaroni (7.5), Caldara (7); Vacca (6.5), Haps (7), Črnigoj (6.5), Matějů (7); Kiyine (4), Aramu (6.5); Okereke (7.5)
Substitutes: Fiordilino (6.5), Svoboda (6), Dor Peretz (6), Ebuehi (N/A), Johnsen (N/A)
