Gasperini through to last 16 🧨 Roma saved by 2005 rule, 1-1 in EL 🔥 | OneFootball

Mission accomplished for Gian Piero Gasperini’s Roma. The Giallorossi side brings home a positive result from the match on Panathinaikos’ field and secures direct qualification to the Europa League playoffs.

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Despite major difficulties due to absences and Mancini’s direct red card in the 14th minute of the first half, the Giallorossi react and secure their second consecutive 1-1 draw after the one against Milan in the league—a result that allows Gasp’s team to remain among the top eight in the standings and fly directly to the knockout phase.

As we mentioned, Roma’s match was affected by Mancini’s serious mistake: he fouled Pantovic and stopped a clear goal-scoring opportunity. The referee initially showed a yellow card but then changed his mind after the OFR and sent off the Giallorossi player in the 14th minute of the first half.

With a man advantage, Panathinaikos capitalizes on another Giallorossi error: Ghilardi gifts the ball to Taborda, who gratefully scores the 1-0 by beating debutant Gollini. 

Roma’s response comes from Ziolkowski, who scores the 1-1 and gifts the Giallorossi direct qualification to the Europa League round of 16.

Angelino is back 🔙

Angelino returns to the field for Roma, taking the place of Tsimikas.

The Spanish full-back steps back onto the pitch for the first time since December 11, when he played 5 minutes against Rangers.

💥 FIRST goal for Ziolkowski, Roma equalize and NOW the round of 16

Ziolkowski breaks his duck, and Roma earn a draw despite being a man down. The Giallorossi find the equalizer with the Polish defender’s first goal.

On Pisilli’s cross, Ziolkowski dives in and beats Lafont, making it 1-1: Roma returns to eighth place, reclaiming a spot in the round of 16.

😍 Debut for Della Rocca

Mattia Della Rocca makes his first-ever appearance for Roma’s senior team.

The 2006-born attacking midfielder from the Primavera comes on for Pellegrini and wears number 75: this is his first official match with the Giallorossi after the friendly against Milan in Perth under De Rossi’s management. 

😱 Ghilardi SHOCK Gift and Taborda goal: Roma TRAILING

Down to ten men after Mancini’s sending off, Roma falls behind in the second half.

Clumsy mistake by Ghilardi, who makes a bad play and puts Taborda back in play, clearly offside: the Argentine recovers the ball, cuts inside on his right, and beats Gollini.

Roma drops out of the top eight in the standings, overtaken by Bologna: at the moment, Gasp’s team, penalized by goal difference, would be in the playoffs.

⚠️ Roma, what a RISK! Pana hit the crossbar with Katris!

Roma risks falling behind but is saved by the crossbar.

In the 37th minute, Panathinaikos tries with a curling right-footed shot from outside the box by Katris, who hits the crossbar with Gollini beaten.

🟥 RED CARD for Mancini, Roma down to 10 in the 15th minute

In the 13th minute, Roma is reduced to 10 men. On Lafont’s long ball, Pantovic does well to use his body against Mancini.

The Roma defender has to intervene and commits a foul, stopping the opposing striker: the referee first shows a yellow card and then a red after the OFR.

Mancini is incredulous after the red card and, just before leaving the field, stopped on the bench to rewatch the incident on Gasperini’s staff’s iPad.

💥 Roma immediately DANGEROUS

Good start from Roma, who look dangerous from the opening minutes.

The first attempt comes from Tsimikas, with Lafont making the save. The former Fiorentina goalkeeper then makes a mistake with his feet and serves Soulé, but Pellegrini fails to capitalize.

From the resulting corner, El Aynaoui tries his luck but his shot is blocked by the defense.

🔙 Benitez VS Gasp 11 years later

The Europa League clash between Panathinaikos and Roma is a reunion for coaches Benitez and Gasperini.

The last time was January 26, 2015, 11 years ago, in a Serie A match between Napoli and Genoa.

🔥 Massara: "Carrasco ❌ Dybala? Exams tomorrow"

Before the Panathinaikos-Roma match, Frederic Massara spoke to Sky Sport.

"Carrasco is definitely off the table. Sulemana? There are many names circulating and we’ll see, there are just a few hours left, if there will be opportunities that can help all the teams."

"Dybala? It was more prudent not to send him on. We’ll do everything tomorrow. I must say we’re not particularly worried."

🤝 Twinning and banners: "History unites us"

The match between Panathinaikos and Roma is an opportunity to renew the twinning between the two sets of fans. Supporters of both teams posed together with the banner "Fratres aeterni".

Inside the stadium, the Panathinaikos curva displayed a banner dedicated to their Romanisti friends: "Beyond brotherhood, history unites us". 

In turn, the Giallorossi displayed the same banner, with the writing in Greek.

🙏 Minute of silence: the reason

On the occasion of Panathinaikos-Roma, a minute of silence will be observed before kickoff in memory of the PAOK Thessaloniki fans who lost their lives in a road accident in Romania while traveling to Lyon to support their team away from home.

✅ The OFFICIAL line-ups

PANATHINAIKOS (3-4-3): Lafont; Palmer-Brown, Ingason, Touba; Katris, Bakasetas, Siopis, Kyriakopoulos; Taborda, Pantovic, Zaroury. Coach: Benitez.

ROMA (3-4-2-1): Gollini; Mancini, Ziolkowski, Ghilardi; Celik, Cristante, El Aynaoui, Tsimikas; Pisilli; Soulé, Pellegrini. Coach: Gasperini.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.

📸 ARIS MESSINIS - AFP or licensors