AS Roma kept their hopes of European football alive after coming from behind to earn a 1-1 draw against Atalanta B.C. in Serie A the Stadio Olimpico, ending a run of four straight H2H defeats against La Dea.
This clash for the European places got off to a blistering start as Atalanta went ahead inside 12 minutes.
Mario Hermoso was dispossessed inside his own half by Marten de Roon, who then fed Nikola Krstović and, although the Montenegro international still had work to do, he took a touch before burying his shot into the bottom-left corner.
Only Harry Kane has scored more goals in Europe’s top five leagues since Donyell Malen moved to Roma, and the Dutchman should have added to his tally in the first half.
First, Stephen El Shaarawy broke forward and laid the ball on a plate for Malen to fire home, but his shot was smothered by Marco Carnesecchi from point-blank range.
The Atalanta stopper again denied Malen 10 minutes later, only this time the Dutchman’s shot was from a tight angle inside the 18-yard box.
Roma continued to probe for the equaliser, however, and it duly arrived on the brink of half time as Devyne Rensch did brilliantly to nod the ball back into the danger area from the back post for Hermoso to volley home.
Both sides had opportunities in the early stages of the second half. First, Nicola Zalewski - who had been brought on as a substitute ahead of the restart - flashed a shot narrowly wide from distance, before El Shaarawy was denied by Carnesecchi at his near post.
The Atalanta stopper was having a busy evening covering his posts as he once again denied the Giallorossi at his near post, this time saving from Malen’s powerful effort.
Hermoso was next to go close for the home side as his header was comfortably gathered by the visiting goalkeeper.
In the end, Atalanta managed to weather the Giallorossi storm and earn a point to keep them within contention for European qualification.
[image alt="Match stats" id="365a5e80-842a-465d-8351-9cec169c31a0" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="4426de23-0b8c-44b0-b5c0-d571ee76e75a" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /]Roma, meanwhile, are now winless in eight H2H meetings with La Dea but remain in sixth place and four behind ahead of tonight’s opponents.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Marco Carnesecchi (Atalanta)
Check out the match stats here.