Sergio Oliveira has secured an away win for AS Roma with his solitary strike against Vitesse.
Meanwhile, the midfielder who joined the Giallorossi from Porto in the winter transfer window was also sent off in the first leg of this Conference League Round of 16 tie.
After topping their group, the Giallorossi qualified for the Round of 16. Jose Mourinho’s men visited Vitesse with practically a full squad available.
The win will put Roma in a good position for the second leg. But all UEFA tournaments this season have the away goals rules scrapped.
The hosts began aggressively, with Rui Patricio needing a great reaction save on Lois Openda from close range after eight minutes.
The hosts thought they have got the lead when Adrian Grbic had the ball in the net in 14 minutes. It was ruled offside as he caught it well on the volley at the back post.
Rui Patricio also made another save when he rushed off his line to close down Toni Domgjoni. Openda’s shot went wide after Roger Ibanez slipped.
Patricio committed an incredible catalogue of errors when Grbic intercepted a dreadful pass from him and set up Openda, who somehow ballooned over from six yards.
Roma finally settled into the tie. Just before half-time, the Serie A team from a corner through Tammy Abraham, who managed to turn and shoot from 10 yards, forced a fingertip save.
They finally broke the deadlock on the stroke of half-time, as a corner pinballed around in the box until Sergio Oliveira smashed it into the top corner from 12 yards.
Admitting that the first-half performance was sub-par, Jose Mourinho made a triple change at the restart.
Abraham couldn’t punish Vitesse when he pounced on a Jacob Rasmussen error. The defender atoned for his error when he managed to get back for the decisive clearance after the goalkeeper was chipped.
Gianluca Mancini failed to make it 2-0, nodding over the bar from a smart Lorenzo Pellegrini cross.
Roma were reduced to 10 men after Sergio Oliveira was issued a yellow card, as he crossed paths with Maximilian Wittek and only lightly caught his ankle.
The goalscorer will be suspended for the second leg. Mancini, who was later booked for dissent, will also be suspended.
Written by: Oladipupo Mojeed
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