One thing is (almost) certain for AS Roma – they have no problem selling out Olympico stadium for their matches. But this certainty is under serious test in recent days, or to be more precise, since fan favorite Daniele De Rossi was sacked. Former Roma captain is hugely popular among the fans and after his surprise dismiss, the most loyal fans from the southern stand decided to start a protest and called to all club‘s fans to follow them. On the other side, American owners wrote an open letter to the fans and somewhat explained the moves made in the past few weeks and provided guarantees for the future of the club. So far it didn‘t work even thou a new coach Ivan Jurić recorded a convincing 3-0 win over Udinese, and after a disappointing Europa League draw at home against Athletic Bilbao (1-1), things aren‘t wont get any better soon.🚨🇪🇺⚽️ | GOAL Dovbyk Roma 1-0 Athletic Club pic.twitter.com/5C1Es3L61X— GoalsCentre (@Goals_Centre) September 26, 2024 The prelude for tonight‘s match was the warm-up, where the players were booed by their most faithful fans, who are blaming the players and club chiefs for the decisions to sack first Jose Mourinho in January and then Roma icon De Rossi. The Southern stand was silent for the first 15 minutes, but then started to cheer their team. In that period, the guests were better but soon the tides turned and Dovbyk started to create chances. He needed two before the third one was successful and eventually resolved the match. It happened in the 32nd minute, when the Ukrainian striker met Angelino’s cross and headed the ball to the net. This was not a game with many clear chances, in fact there were not so many chances at all, but Dovbyk certainly missed his, as well as Soule. And the punishment came in the 86th minute, when the guests used their only chance of the game. Berenguer‘s free kick was knocked back at the far post by Unai Gomez and Aitor Paredes headed the equalizer from five meters for a ‘cold shower‘ among Roma fans.🚨🚨| GOAL: ATHLETIC EQUALISEDRoma 1-1 Athletic Club pic.twitter.com/hYbQjAxTyn— GOALSbible (@goalsbiblefc) September 26, 2024 UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE – ROUND 1WednesdayAZ Alkmar – Elfsborg 3-2 (1-1)/Van Bommel 44, 50, Parrott 75 pen – Ouma 23, Hedlund 53/Bodo – Porto 3-2 (2-1) /Hogh 15, Hauge 40,62 – Omorodion 8, Gul 90/Anderlecht – Ferencvaros 2-1 (2-1)/Verschaeren 60, Dolberg 66 pen – Traore 86/Dynamo Kiev – Lazio 0-3 (0-3)/Dia 4,35, Dele-Bashiru 33/Galatasaray – PAOK 3-1 (3-1)/Baba 48 og, Akgun 75, Icardi 90+5 – Konstantelias 67/Ludogorets – Slavia Praha 0-2 (0-1)/Jurasek 37, Chytil 65/Man Utd – Twente 1-1 (1-0)/Eriksen 35 – Lammers 68/Midtjylland – Hoffenheim 1-1 (1-0)/Osorio 42 – Moerstedt 89/Nice – Sociedad 1-1 (0-1)/Rosari0 45 – Barrenetxea 18/ThursdayFenerbahce – St.Gilloise 2-1 (1-0)/Sounchu 28, Burgess 82(og) – Sykes 90+3/Malmo – Rangers 0-2 (0-1)/Bajrami 1, McCausland 76/Ajax – Besiktas 4-0 (1-0)/Fitz-Jim 31, Godts 51, 73, Taylor 55/Roma – Ath.Bilbao 1-1 (1-0)/Dovbyk 32 – Paredes 86/Braga – Maccabi T.A. 2-1 (0-1)/Bruma 88, 90+5(p) – Davida 30(p)/Eintr.Frankfurt – Plzen 3-3 (1-1)/Ekitike 38, Ebimbe 62, Kristensen 61 – Šulc 41, Adu 86, Jemelka 90+2/FCSB – Rigas 4-1 (2-1)/Birligea 8, Stefanescu 32, Olaru 58, 69 – Lipušček 23/Olympique Lyon – Olympiakos 2-0 (0-0)/Cherki 65, Benrahma 71/Tottenham – Qarabag 2-0 (1-0)/Johnson 12, Sarr 52/
