Roma 2, Bologna 3: Recap & Match Highlights

After a week that saw the club concede late goals to Hellas Verona in the league and Union St. Gilloise in Europe, the already dour mood surrounding Roma became utterly hopeless. With Ivan Juric steering an increasingly rudderless ship into the ground, the embattled interim manager did himself few favors ahead of today's crucial fixture against Bologna, leaving star playmaker Paulo Dybala out of the matchday squad for reasons unknown.

Still, despite all the tumult surrounding the Giallorossi, Roma had a job to do today: halt their two-match losing streak against Bologna. Thiago Motta may have moved on to even greener pastures after leading the Rossoblu to the Champions League. Still, the boys from Bologna remain a formidable side, entering today's Round 12 fixture on the back of a two-match league winning streak. In fact, Bologna hadn't suffered a Serie A defeat since August 25th, a 3-0 defeat to Napoli.

With Juric's grasp on the job tenuous at best, it was fair to question the players' level of enthusiasm ahead of today's match at the Stadio Olimpico. And while they didn't immediately roll over and play dead, it was clear which team had something to prove today and which was going through the motions.

After a slow start, the match began in earnest around the 20th minute, with Bologna slowly but surely applying pressure to the Giallorossi backline. While they didn't draw first blood in the run of play, Vincenzo Italiano's side exposed an increasingly worrisome weakness for the capital club: set-piece defending.

Thanks to Santiago Cruz's quick thinking, Bologna jumped out to an early lead, prompting a cascade of boos from every corner of the Olimpico. Still, with 20 minutes left to play in the half, Roma had ample opportunity to level the match before halftime. However, despite seeing more of the ball and firing eight speculative efforts at Lukasz Skorupski's goal, the capital club once again limped into the dressing room on the lesser half of the scoreboard.

Down a goal and with 45 minutes left to play, Roma's hopes weren't entirely dashed. So, when Stephan El Shaarawy got on the end of a Gianluca Mancini cross in the 63rd minute, the Giallorossi suddenly had a lifeline. However, in keeping with this season's theme, Juric's crew immediately conceded a back-breaking goal, letting Riccardo Orsolini loose in the final third. The 27-year-old winger settled a long ball from Castro before beating Mile Svilar with a left-footed finish, though he received a bit of assistance from Angeliño, who inadvertently deflected the ball up and over Mile Svilar.

Jesper Karlsson put the match to bed ten minutes later, capping off a give-and-go move with Juan Miranda to put Bologna on top 3-1 with 13 minutes left in regular time. El Shaarawy gave Roma fans a glimmer of hope late in the match when he stroked a beautiful pall past Skorupski and into the corner of the opposite post to pull the Giallorossi within one goal. However, despite 14 additional minutes of regulation and stoppage time, Roma couldn't find a late equalizer, suffering their fourth defeat in their past five matches.

Final Thoughts

In my 20+ years of following this club (and about 13 years of writing about them), this is the nadir: Roma has seldom if ever, played worse, looked worse, or felt worse. Something is definitely rotten in the Kingdom of Roma. There is absolutely no way the club can carry on with Ivan Juric at the helm. If the performances on the pitch weren't enough, his treatment of Mats Hummels and Paulo Dybala will likely cost him the locker room, if it hasn't already.

With 12 matches in the book, Roma is mired in 12th place with little hope on the horizon. Whoever manages this club after the break has to get better results and soothe the psychological wounds inflicted on the players over the past several months—which is no small feat, to say the least.

Up Next

The international break.