2023-11-30 22:10:38
“My team had opportunities to win until the end but we were superficial, passive, at an overall insufficient level,” admitted José Mourinho, AS Roma coach after the match. The Italians must now hope for a good result from the Garnet in Prague on December 14 to regain first place in the group at Slavia. “Servette is capable of it,” assures Mourinho. It’s a good team, with a good coach and who plays with a lot of motivation.”
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Stacking of stars
The press conference the day before gave credence to the idea that Mourinho was Roma’s only star. At kick-off, the 28,554 spectators who filled the Stade de Genève for the second time this season discovered an impressive list of names in the white jersey of the yellow and red: two world champions (the Argentinians Paulo Dybala and Leandro Paredes), five European champions (the Italians Bryan Cristante, Andrea Belotti and Leonardo Spinazzola, the Portuguese Rui Patricio and Renato Sanchez), the Belgian star Romelu Lukaku, the ex- prodigies Houssem Aouar and Stephan El Shaarawy, Ivorian, Turkish, Serbian and Spanish internationals.
Half started the match on the bench as Servette pitted Yoan Severin against Lukaku and Anthony Baron against Dybala. The Genevans did not let themselves be impressed and started with great energy, like Severin who burst in front of Lukaku before crossing the entire field with the ball at his feet (9th). In the following minutes, a half-volley from Timothé Cognat flush with the Roman post (10th) then a pivotal shot from Bendeguz Bolla into the gloves of goalkeeper Mile Svilar (12th) convinced the public that the feat was possible.
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As the minutes passed, however, the pressure eased and Roma gradually put their expert touch on the match, intelligently cutting off Servetti’s passing lines at midfield. Despite the stacking of stars, it plays simple, sober, collective. Mourinho sees to this if necessary, and gives a soap to his defenders who are too bare for his liking on an offensive corner.
When Romelu Lukaku opened the scoring (22nd), on the Roman side there was only the satisfaction of a duty accomplished and, from the stands, the feeling of implacable punishment. At the origin of the goal, a one-two which frees Diego Llorente on the right side. The Spaniard cuts back to the center, runs along the surface, attracts three defenders who believe in the shot but he slips to Lukaku who controls and places the ball with his left out of reach of Jérémy Frick.
Bedia’s composure
Servette insisted, sometimes pulling off some nice moves, as long as you went quickly and the technical gesture was correct. The Italians seemed to have the margin, and missed the 0-2 when a cross from El Sharawi was unscrewed by Dybala, which surprised Lukaku, both less than two meters from the Servetti goal (36th). Just before half-time, Derek Kutesa, who went to look for a little space on the left, places his “special”: acceleration towards the inside and curling shot with the right foot. Goalkeeper Svilar diverts the ball which was heading towards the top corner (45th).
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Servette returned from the locker room with the same intentions as in the first half but this time was very quickly rewarded. A bell-shaped cross from Micha Stevanovic abused Cristante and found Chris Bedia. Geneva’s top scorer controlled and slipped the ball under Svilar’s stomach (1-1).
Shared between the desire to score a second goal and the concern to preserve themselves in view of the weekend’s deadlines in their respective championships (Servette travels to Bern on Sunday), the two teams hesitated between offensive desires and rotation of the squad . They neutralized each other with “tactical errors” to nip any risk of counterattack in the bud. The boxes were raining down, the rain was increasing, but this did not dampen the enthusiasm of the Geneva public who madly encouraged their team until the end.
“If we compare the Rome match and this one, we have made very clear progress. In the first half we had few chances, which is one of the characteristics of playing Roma, but the team responded well afterwards. She has also progressed a lot mentally lately. I am very satisfied,” underlined René Weiler, the Servetti coach.
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