Roma beat Slovan Bratislava 4-0 at the Stadio Olimpico for their first win of this season’s Champions League league phase. Mario Hermoso, Nahuel Molina, Niccolò Pisilli and Donyell Malen, from the penalty spot, scored in a one-sided match under Gian Piero Gasperini.
Rome, Italy: Last week Roma had led Real Madrid 3-1 and still lost 4-3. This time the Olimpico saw no such late collapse. Gian Piero Gasperini’s side scored four times in 58 minutes against Slovan Bratislava and spent the second half managing a match that was already won.
Hermoso and Molina open it up
Mario Hermoso gave Roma the lead in the 21st minute, and the pressure kept coming. Nahuel Molina made it 2-0 in the 39th minute when he tapped in a rebound at the far post after Slovan’s goalkeeper could only palm Malen’s shot into his path. Slovan, who had lost 6-1 to Paris Saint-Germain and 3-0 to VfB Stuttgart in their opening two matches, had no answer.
Pisilli and Malen finish the job
Niccolò Pisilli added a third in the 52nd minute, set up by a Malen lay-off. Six minutes later Roma won a penalty when Wesley went down under pressure from Slovan’s César Blackman, and Malen sent it into the bottom corner for 4-0 in the 58th minute.
Slovan’s night did not improve. Three players, Tigran Barseghyan, Suleiman Camara and Cristian Martínez, were booked. Roma collected no cards.
A reset after Madrid
The result mattered more for what it repaired. Roma’s earlier 4-3 defeat to Real Madrid, in which they conceded three times late on from a 3-1 lead, had left them without a win in the competition.
The win was Gasperini’s first in the Champions League as Roma coach. Roma’s next European match is against Manchester United on 3 November at Old Trafford, a trip that will test whether this performance can travel.
Result: Roma 4 (Hermoso, Molina, Pisilli, Malen pen.), Slovan Bratislava 0. Half-time: 2-0. Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome. Competition: UEFA Champions League, league phase, Matchday 3.
