AS Roma held by Athletic Club in Europa League opener

AS Roma were held to a 1-1 draw by Spanish side Athletic Bilbao in the opening match of this season Europa League.

The capital club had gone ahead through Artem Dovbyk, who scored for the third game in a row, but they ran out of steam and conceded a late Aitor Paredes equalizer for the 1-1 Europa League draw with Athletic Club.

The Curva Sud continued their protest against the club, jeering players and staying silent in the opening 15 minutes.

The first chance came the way of the visitors. Still, Gorka Guruzeta and Inaki Williams failed to keep their finish on target after springing the offside trap on balls floated over the top, while Aitor Paredes couldn’t keep his free header down from a corner.

Goalkeeper Agirrezebala was called into action when he sprinted off his line to deny Artem Dovbyk one-on-one from a long pass while Paulo Dybala got his volley wrong from an Angelino knockdown.

Roma eventually took the lead after a long period of pressure. Angelino floated a cross from the left to Dovbyk at the far post and nodded into the ground across the goalkeeper.

Unai Gomez’s finish did not have enough power from the edge of the area, and substitute Matias Soulé pounced on an Aitor Paredes stumble to sting the goalkeeper’s gloves.

EURO 2024 winner  Nico Williams came off the bench at the hour mark, and Saud Abdilhamid made his debut for Roma. His introduction made  Athletic pin the hosts back, with Inaki Williams firing over.

They eventually restored parity after constant pressure when Unai Gomez knocked back Alex Berenguer’s free kick for the Aitor Paredes header from six yards.

It is hoped that they will put this result behind them and focus on their next game, which is a Serie A clash against Venezia at home on Sunday. They will then travel to Swedish club Elfborg for a Matchday Two clash of the Europa League.