AS Roma failed to deal with AC Milan on Sunday. The Romans were significantly better and had a truckload of opportunities before the break, but Donyell Malen in particular did not have his sights set. Milan took the lead after halftime, completely against the odds, before Lorenzo Pellegrini gave Roma a point: 1-1. Milan and Roma remain second and third respectively.
The opening phase and in fact the entire match belonged to Roma, which, not least thanks to Malen playing strong football, set up one fluid attack after another. There were also plenty of opportunities for the people of the capital, for which Malen should have struck at least once.
After only fifteen seconds it was almost time, when Malen took the ball in the box and produced a shot that was too weak to pass Mike Maignan. Not much later, the ex-PSV player headed wide from a free kick.
His greatest opportunity was yet to come. Paulo Dybala, who seems to have an excellent connection with Malen, started the attack. The Argentinian brought the ball to Evan Ndicka, who passed it back to Malen. Malen shot narrowly wide from about seven meters from the goal.
Milan barely had anything to say in the first half hour. A long shot from ex-Roma player Alexis Saelemaekers, who whistled, did not worry goalkeeper Mile Svilar. Malen got his next chance in the 34th minute. This time he shot at Maignan from an awkward angle.
The disbelief increased at Roma, which also had three big chances in the last minutes before half-time. Zeki Çelik shot at Maignan in a free position, after which Soulé sent the rebound over the goal. Finally, Çelik shot at Maignan again, after which the rebound was not spent on Malen.
Milan finally showed themselves in an attacking sense after the break. Adrien Rabiot fired a shot towards the far post, which Svilar, the least passed goalkeeper in Serie A, just got a hand into. Rabiot was booked from the subsequent corner kick after he shot the ball out of Svilar’s hands.
A major setback for Roma was the injury of Manu Koné. The French international immediately felt that something was wrong with his hamstring after a match with Rabiot. Niccolò Pisilli, who scored twice against VfB Stuttgart last week, was his replacement.
Completely against the odds, Milan took the lead in the Olimpico. From a short corner kick, Luka Modric swung the ball in front of the goal, where Koni De Winter towered above everyone and headed in behind the hopeless Svilar: 0-1.
Malen, who was much less present in the second half than in the first, was brought on after seventy minutes for Robinio Vaz. Five minutes later, Çelik tapped the ball into Davide Bartesaghi’s outstretched arm. Pellegrini scored the next penalty: 1-1.
