Leicester City and Roma drew 1-1 in the first leg of their Europa Conference League semi-final in England on Thursday.
Giallorossi Yorkshire was in attendance for the match, among the 1600-strong section of Roma fans.
They saw their side take the lead through Lorenzo Pellegrini, before a Gianluca Mancini own goal left things level ahead of next week’s reunion in Rome.
Here are some Leicester v Roma player ratings from the King Power Stadium.
Rui Patricio – 6
The busier of the two goalkeepers, Patricio remained on his toes and made one particularly impressive one-handed save. He also helped Roma manage the game when they were in the lead by controlling their tempo.
Rick Karsdorp – 5
A strange performance from the Dutchman, who is usually stronger going forward than in defence. This time it was the opposite way around, with his passing sometimes going frustratingly astray.
Gianluca Mancini – 6
Mancini tarted the game quite strongly, winning some duels, but saw his standards slip somewhat in the second half – leading to him turning the ball into his own net.
Chris Smalling – 8
An absolutely imperious performance from Roma’s English rock at the back. From the outset, he made vital blocks and challenges to thwart the Leicester attack. It was like he had not just Jamie Vardy, but the entire King Power Stadium in his pocket. Man of the match, comfortably.
Roger Ibanez – 6
The defender was caught out a bit for Leicester’s equaliser but had tried to compete before that, going toe to toe with the opponents.
Bryan Cristante – 6
Cristante produced a mixed bag in midfield, sometimes breaking up play but other times being overly cautious and not spotting better passing angles, or giving it away. Made use of the ball occasionally at range, though.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan – 5
Mkhitaryan has been Roma’s most consistent player this season, but even he can have an off day. Was he affected by all the news about his agent Mino Raiola in the preceding hours? Who knows, but for some reason his radar was off.
Lorenzo Pellegrini – 6
The captain continued his best goalscoring season with a fine left-footed finish across Kasper Schmeichel to give Roma the lead. He tried to carry the ball upfield but had little support sometimes.
Nicola Zalewski – 7
Confidence growing all the time, Roma’s young wing-back stepped up to the occasion of a European semi-final. His dribble led to Pellegrini’s goal and he continued to put in a shift.
Nicolo Zaniolo – 5
A fairly anonymous performance from a player who has drawn Premier League transfer links, but would need to stand up better to make that a success.
Tammy Abraham – 6
Pumped up on his first return to English soil with Roma, Abraham displayed some flair play with a range of trickery to keep the fans excited, but had little impact as the centre-forward in the box, so remains goalless against Leicester.
Show your support by following Giallorossi Yorkshire on Twitter and Facebook, and subscribe to the monthly newsletter.
Leave a Reply