Roma dealt a huge blow on Brighton’s UEFA Europa League dreams as they inflicted a 4-0 loss on Roberto De Zerbi’s side in the first leg of the last-16 at Stadio Olimpico. Paulo Dybala and Romelu Lukaku scored in the first half and the damage was added by further goals from Gianluca Mancini and Bryan Cristante after the restart. Brighton have it all to do in the second leg at the Amex on March 14.
Brighton suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat against AS Roma in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League last-16 tie at the Stadio Olimpico on Thursday.
Roberto De Zerbi’s side created plenty of chances in the game but they were made to rue their missed opportunities as Roma ran riot, with Paulo Dybala, Romelu Lukaku, Gianluca Mancini and Byan Cristante all on target for the hosts.
Dybala gave Roma the lead when he ran onto a wonderful through ball from Leandro Paredes, before rounding Jason Steele and slotting the ball into an empty net. The assistant referee raised his flag late to initially disallow the goal, but VAR gave the green light as replays showed Dybala timed his run perfectly.
Lukaku doubled Roma’s lead when he capitalised on Lewis Dunk’s error, as the Brighton captain took a bad touch from a lofted Roma ball forward to allow the Belgian to race clear before firing beyond a helpless Steele.
In the second half, Danny Welbeck squandered Brighton’s best chance of the game when he swiped an effort over the bar from close range, before Roma put the game to bed with two quickfire goals. Mancini met Stephan El Shaarawy’s cross to poke the ball past Steele before Bryan Cristante added a fourth with a header at the back post.
Brighton welcome Roma to the South Coast next week for the return leg with a huge mountain to climb, while Daniele De Rossi’s side have one foot firmly in the Europa League quarter-finals.
TALKING POINT – BRIGHTON RUE MISSED CHANCES
The scoreline suggests Roma dominated the match, but that is far from the truth. Brighton had their fair share of chances, but the brilliance of Mile Svilar combined with the lack of conviction from the Seagulls meant they failed to find the net with any of their 11 efforts.
There was controversy surrounding the third goal because it looked as though Gianluca Mancini had drifted offside, despite VAR giving the all-clear. But the harsh reality for De Zerbi’s side is that they were not clinical enough on the day, while Roma most definitely were.
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