Roma emerged victorious in the Europa League round of 16 against Athletic Club, winning the match 2-1. The first half concluded without any goals being scored, but the second half became quite exciting with many scoring chances created by both teams. In fact, Athletic Club opened the half with a goal scored by none other than Iñaki Williams in the 50th minute. Williams scored by directing a header into the top left corner of the net, a location that appears to be the new sweet spot for that kind of shot. However, Roma came right back to tie the match at 1-1 when Angeliño scored an equalizing goal in the 56th minute with a precision shot that hit the back of the net.
Athletic Club’s Early Control And Roma’s Resurgence
Athletic Club had the upper hand at the start of the second half. They piled on the pressure, creating some really good chances, not just opportunities, from Iñaki Williams and Nico Williams. They did capitalize on that pressure and scored their first goal of the match. After about 20 to 25 minutes, Roma stabilized the match, got control of the match, and started to dominate the match in terms of the ball and also in terms of creating offensive/goal-scoring attempts. Their offense started to click with Alexis Saelemaekers, who became a really key player for them in the offensive phase.
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A Deserved But Narrow Win For Roma
Athletic Club took the field as favorites but was pushed much harder in this contest than it had anticipated. Despite its La Liga pedigree, it still feels like it should be the height of Roma’s recent European struggles to lose to a team that seems to muddle through the La Liga most seasons. The Spanish team managed to keep its composure late into the game when Roma really started asking questions of its defense in hopes of pulling a point from this match, and yet, I don’t even know how to underestimate Athletic Club’s serviceable defense that it had through 89 of 90 minutes.
