Roma’s recent frustration continued as they were held to a 1-1 draw against a solid Hellas Verona on Sunday afternoon at the Stadio Bentegodi.
The Giallorossi started the game brightly and took the lead in the 26th minute thanks to long-range strike from Francesco Totti. Although once again, Roma were made to pay following a number of missed chances when the Gialloblu levelled in the 38th thanks to a fortunate header from Bosko Jankovic.
Verona began the match in ferocious fashion as they inflicted a few clattering challenges on their title chasing opponents. Jankovic was the first of the Gialloblu to get his ‘late tackle in early’ as he picked up an early booking after only two minutes when the Serbian slid in late on Roma midfielder Seydou Keita.
This premature intensity soon wavered however and the Lupi began obtain a firm grip on the game as they lurched further and further forward into the Verona half.
The Mastini soon found themselves encamped in their own box as they struggled to cope with the trickery of the Roma attack. On numerous occasions both Gervinho and Alessandro Florenzi were found in space out wide and were able to easily dance past their static opponents.
This intricate play and domination of possession soon led to Roma’s first genuine chance when Kostas Manolas fired a loose header wide. Miralem Pjanic whipped in a curling cross onto the head of the Greek defender who climbed well above his marker, but was unable to connect well with the ball and directed his header wide of the post.
The Giallorossi’s domination of the first half soon paid off however, when Francesco Totti’s long-range shot crept into the left hand side of the goal. The veteran forward picked up the ball well outside the area and took up his open invitation to shoot and deservedly put his side 1-0 up with a well taken strike.
However, Roma’s justified lead did not last long after Verona equalised via a Jankovic header in the 38th minute. Emil Hallfredsson fired in a left footed corner which was consequently met by the head of the 30-year-old Serbian, whose effort then deflected fortunately off the back of Keita and past a helpless Morgan de Sanctis.
Somewhat boosted by this first half equaliser, Verona then very nearly took the lead in the opening stages second half, when Hallfredsson had a clean strike cleared off the line. Panagiotis Tachtsidis created space for himself in the opposition box and then squared the ball to his Icelandic team-mate, however the midfielders low drive was kept out by a Roma defender who did well to athletically leap in front of the oncoming ball.
As the game progressed, the frantic pace that defined the first half began to disappear and the home side looked to take advantage of Roma’s recent inability to find the net. The Verona defence began to sit back and soak up the Giallorossi’s pressure, intelligently using their troublesome target-man Luca Toni when they did retain possession.
The match ultimately ended 1-1 and Roma will once again be left ruining their inability to capitalise on a first half lead.
