Roma have turned around a seemingly difficult task of achieving qualification from their Europa League group match following a thumping 3-0 victory away to Istanbul Basaksehir.
In what looked like a very tough trip to Istanbul to face the leaders of Group J, the Giallorossi turned up and controlled proceedings.
Lorenzo Pellegrini proved key to Roma’s victory as he played a part in all three goals. The first goal came after his strike was blocked by Mehmet Topal’s arm which resulted in a penalty for his side and Jordan Veretout made no mistake from the spot.
Pellegrini then played a terrific pass over the top of the Basaksehir defence which Justin Kluivert raced clear and kept his composure to stick his side 2-0 up.
The third goal came from Pellegrini who yet again, played a great pass which Edin Dzeko cooly slotted home.
The third goal before half time really took it out of the Istanbul side who looked completely dejected when coming back out for the second half. Paulo Fonseca’s men played the second half at a leisurely pace and could easily have had a similar scoreline to the first time the two sides met – 4-0.
Roma’s attack is looking great as they are incredibly fast on the break and with Kluivert looking more confident, he is a great asset to any side as his pace is deadly. The constantly improving Nicolo Zaniolo is adding more to his game and supporting players like Dzeko will only help these young stars grow.
Having Veretout accompanied by Amadou Diawara as the two holding midfielders, it galvanises the squad and perhaps is the start of a great duo in midfield. This in turn, allowed Pellegrini to play in a more advanced role and he absolutely delivered.
What will please Fonseca is that the defence is looking a lot more settled with Chris Smalling and Gianluca Mancini have formed a solid partnership at the back which is growing game-by-game.
With this win and performance, Roma can take heart going into their last group game where they will face Borussia Monchengladbach in two weeks time and hope to right the wrongs of the 2-1 defeat they faced by the German side on Matchday 4.
