Italy Striker Romelu Lukaku scored a goal to help Roma beat Slavia Prague 2-0 in the third round to continue leading Group G of the Europa League with nine absolute points.
In the 17th minute, Stephan El Shaarawy dribbled the ball and passed it to Lukaku, who ran down and finished with his left foot into the visitors' net.
The Belgian striker has now scored in each of his last 14 Europa League games, with 18 goals, including eight for Everton, seven for Inter Milan and three for Roma. This is the longest scoring streak by a player in UEFA Cup/Europa League history. In the opening two matches, Lukaku scored the winner in Roma's 2-1 win at Sheriff Tiraspol and contributed a goal in their 4-0 home win over Servette.
Lukaku scores the second goal for Roma in the 17th minute of their 2-0 win over Slavia Praha at the Olimpico Stadium on October 26. Photo: asroma.it
Since the beginning of the season, this is Lukaku's eighth goal in 10 games for Roma, since joining the Italian club on loan on the last day of the 2023 summer transfer window. In addition to three goals in three consecutive Europa League matches, the Belgian striker has also scored five goals in Serie A. Lukaku is leading the team's list, far ahead of the next person, Andrea Belotti - the Italian striker who has only scored five goals in 10 appearances.
Roma and Slavia Prague both have six points and are without their full squads ahead of the Olimpico clash on 26 October. The home side are without Paulo Dybala, Renato Sanches, Lorenzo Pellegrini, Tammy Abraham, Leonardo Spinazzola, Chris Smalling and Marash Kumbulla due to injury. Manager Jose Mourinho is also absent from the technical area as he is banned by UEFA for four matches for insulting referee Anthony Taylor in last season's Europa League final.
On the other side, Slavia Prague are without Petr Sevcik and David Pech. This is also the first time the Czech representative has returned to the Olimpico since winning the UEFA Cup quarter-finals in extra time in 1996.
Roma were slightly better and settled the match in just the first 17 minutes. Before the first minute had passed, Roma opened the scoring. El Shaarawy stole the ball in the opponent's half and passed it to Edoardo Bove. The Italian midfielder controlled it and curled his right foot into the far corner, leaving goalkeeper Ales Mandous rooted to the spot.
Bove (middle) celebrates opening the score in the 43rd second of the match. Photo: asroma.it
Bove scored the fastest goal in Roma's UEFA Cup history in 43 seconds. In the Europa League alone, the previous record was 57 seconds, scored by Henrikh Mkhitaryan against Cluj on November 5, 2020.
Lukaku's goal in the 17th minute doubled Roma's advantage and they played comfortably for the rest of the first half. In the second half, Mourinho's players created a series of chances, but could not increase the gap. Lukaku's left-footed shot missed the post, El Shaarawy's curling shot from outside the box hit the crossbar and substitute striker Andrea Belotti could not beat Mandous in a one-on-one situation.
However, 2-0 was enough for Roma to take sole possession of Group G with nine points, three more than Slavia Prague, while Sheriff Tiraspol and Servette each have one point. If they continue to beat Slavia Prague in the next round on November 9, the Italian capital club will secure a ticket to the next round with two matches early.
Line-up :
Roma : Svilar, Llorente, Ndicka, Mancini, Bove (Paredes 46), Cristante, Zalewski (Karsdorp 70), Celik, Lukaku (Pagano 82), El Shaarawy (Belotti 70), Aouar (Cherubini 88).
Slavia Prague : Mandous, Ogbu, Vlcek, Holes, Dorley, Zafeiris (Jurecka 82), Dumitrescu (Provod 64), Doudera, Van Buren (Chytil 71), Schranz (Wallem 64), Masopust (Jurasek 46).
Hong Duy
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