Roma's 100th minute madness

We’re in for a hellish race for the Champions League spots in Italy’s Serie A. At least for two places. Maybe even three if Napoli doesn’t self-destruct against Bologna on Monday. And all of this is thanks to Roma and their miraculous comeback at the Ennio Tardini. Until the fourth minute of stoppage time, they were on their knees, trailing Parma, but on the wings of Dutch players Devin Rehsa and Donyell Malen, they turned it around and, in the 99th minute, achieved an incredible 3-2 triumph that puts them in a legitimate position to finish among the top four and qualify for the Champions League.

They’ve taken advantage of the recent slip-ups of their rivals – Juventus, Como, Milan – raised their form, and with 13 of a possible 15 points from the last five games, they’ve fully returned to the Champions League race. They still don’t control everything themselves, with the Rome derby coming in the penultimate round, but they have a promising season ahead. How smart it was the idea to bring Donyell Malen… and how Gasperini unearthed an absolutely sensational hero from the bench, Devin Rehsa.

He started with the strongest XI available, with the Argentine duo of Soule and Dybala playing just behind the forward Malen. And it paid off. These three caused the most problems for the home defense. Roma started aggressively, played high, and pressed. Malen had a goal disallowed for offside, Mancini asked for a penalty, and finally, in the 22nd minute, Roma took a deserved lead. Kone won the ball, Dybala masterfully set up Malen, and the Dutchman calmly finished past Suzuki. Soule could have doubled the lead soon after, but hit the post from Dybala’s cross. He could have received it following Endika’s mistake, but Svilar covered Strefece’s goal.

What he couldn’t do at the end of the first half, the Brazilian did at the start of the second. In the 47th minute, Strefece punished Ermos’ mistake with a billiard-precise shot. Parma could have even turned it around, but Pellegrino was offside, and Ordonez’s lob went just wide. Roma continued to threaten through Malen, whose chances were thwarted by Suzuki twice, and in the last ten minutes, it turned into absolute madness. Keita scored in the 87th minute after a one-two and a brilliant assist from Estevez. Roma seemed clinically dead…And yet they revived on the wings of the least expected hero – Devin Rehsa. The Dutchman came on in the 78th minute and became the absolute hero. In the 94th minute, he found himself perfectly after a corner and scored through a forest of legs for the equalizer, and in the 96th minute, he earned a penalty after a hug by Sasa Britschgi. Malen kept his cool and converted the penalty for a miraculous comeback and victory.

SERIE A - MATCHDAY 36

Friday

Torino - Sassuolo 2-1 (0-0)

/Simeone 66, Pedersen 70 - Thorstvedt 51/

Saturday

Cagliari - Udinese 0-2 (0-0)

/Buksa 56, Gueye 90+6/

Lazio - Inter 0-3 (0-2)

/Lautaro 6, Sucic 39, Mkhitaryan 76/

Lecce - Juventus 0-1 (0-1)

/Vlahovic 1/

Sunday

Verona - Como 0-1 (0-0)

/Douvikas 71/

Cremonese - Pisa 3-0 (1-0)

/Vardy 31, Bonazzoli 51, Okereke 86/

Fiorentina - Genoa 0-0

Parma - Roma 2-3 (0-1)

/Strefezza 47, Keita 87 - Mallen 22, 90+11 pen, Rensch 90+4/

Milan - Atalanta 2-3 (0-2)

/Pavlovic 88, Nkunku 90+3 pen - Ederson 7, Zappacosta 29, Raspadori 51/

Monday

21.45: (1.55) Napoli (4.00) Bologna (6.50)

***odds are subject to change***