Roma recorded a confidence-boosting 4-1 victory at home against Serie B outfit Sampdoria in the Coppa Italia Round of 16 on Wednesday night, as Artem Dovbyk, Tommaso Baldanzi and Eldor Shomurodov set up a quarter-final meeting with Milan.
See how it unfolded on the Football Italia LIVEBLOG.
Ranieri named a semi-rotated side after the 2-0 loss to Como in Serie A over the weekend, as five outfielders kept their place, but Saud Abdulhamid, Enzo Le Fee, Manu Kone, Stephan El Shaarawy and Paulo Dybala dropped out of the starting line-up. There was also a debut for Matthew Ryan in the Giallorossi net.
Leonardo Semplici made even more alterations to his Sampdoria side, making nine changes overall after his team’s 0-0 draw with Spezia in Serie B on Saturday.
AS Roma players pose for a team photo on the pitch ahead of the Coppa Italia Third Round match between AS Roma and Sampdoria at Stadio Olimpico on December 18, 2024 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Paolo Bruno/Getty Images)
Tommaso Baldanzi came close just four minutes in after a twisting and turning through the Sampdoria defence before stinging Paolo Vismara’s gloves from the edge of the six-yard box.
Dovbyk got his first goal since early November by getting an outstretched foot onto Alexis Saelemaekers’s wicked low cross in from the right flank for 1-0.
The same combination led to Roma’s second goal of the night, as Nicolo Pisilli found Saelemaekers with a wonderful cross-field ball, before the Belgian sent in another dangerous cross from the right flank.
Melle Meulensteen, son of former Manchester United assistant Rene, initially turned it onto his own crossbar before Dovbyk nodded home into an empty net from close range.
Baldanzi carried the ball from the halfway line to the edge of the area on his own before dispatching a lovely finish into the bottom right-hand corner for Roma’s third goal of the night.
Sampdoria’s goal came courtesy of a terrible piece of Roma defending. A rather tame cross was sent into the edge of the area, none of Roma’s defenders could deal with it, and Yepes found himself through one-on-one with a simple finish past Ryan.
Roma came back fighting; Matias Soule hitting the crossbar with a wonderful effort from 30 yards out, before the summer signing fed Dovbyk one-on-one for his hat-trick, only for Paolo Vismara to pull out an excellent save to deny him.
Roma made it four with just over 10 minutes of regulation time left to play. Seconds after coming on to replace Dovbyk, Shomurodov lept well and dispatched a powerful header after a great cross in from Angelino off the left flank.
Eldor Shomurodov celebrates with his teammates after scoring his team’s fourth goal during the Coppa Italia Third Round match between AS Roma and Sampdoria at Stadio Olimpico on December 18, 2024 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Paolo Bruno/Getty Images)
As a result of their victory on Wednesday night, Roma will go on to face Milan in the quarter-finals, which are currently due to take place on February 5, 2025.
Full-time: Roma 4-1 Sampdoria
Dovbyk (R) 9′, 19′, Baldanzi (R) 24′, Yepes (S) 61′, Shomurodov (R) 79′.
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