Roma got the goal they needed to see off 10-man Shakhtar Donetsk 1-0 at Stadio Olimpico on Tuesday to book their place in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.
Match Summary
- Roma 1 Shakhtar Donetsk 0
- Dzeko shoots straight at Pyatov very early on
- Ferreyra spurns superb chance for Miners
- Dzeko breaks deadlock early in second half
- Ordets sent down the tunnel for early shower
The Miners carried over a 2-1 advantage from the first leg of their last-16 clash, but Edin Dzeko put Eusebio Di Francesco’s side in the driving seat as he opened the scoring early in the second half to settle the tie on away goals.
A straight red card for Ivan Ordets in the closing stages helped the Giallorossi’s cause as they reached the last eight of the Europe’s elite club competition for only the fourth time in their history.
Full Report
The hosts almost made a dream start as Edin Dzeko fired straight at Andriy Pyatov from the edge of the box in the opening minute following good work from Radja Nainggolan to create the chance.
They survived a scare at the other end on 10 minutes, however, when Alessandro Florenzi diverted a free-kick just wide of his own goal with an attempted clearing header.
The game only really came to life at the midway point of the first half, with Pyatov cutting out Aleksandar Kolarov’s driven cross ahead of Dzeko at the near post on 24 minutes, before Taison fizzed a strike over the crossbar from distance for the visitors four minutes later.
An error from Federico Fazio allowed Facundo Ferreyra to run through on goal in the 33rd minute, but the striker failed to capitalise as he fired into the side-netting from an angle on the right.
Diego Perotti had a sniff at goal for the Giallorossi eight minutes before half-time, but the Argentine striker dragged his shot wide of the left post after the ball dropped for him on the edge of the box.
The Serie A outfit were back in the contest just seven minutes after the restart, however, when the visiting defence was caught out by Kevin Strootman’s ball over the top and Dzeko ran through on goal to slot under Pyatov into the back of the net.
The opener gave Roma renewed hope and Perotti drew a smart save out of Pyatov with a shot from inside the are on the left 10 minutes into the second half, before Dzeko curled an effort inches wide of the far post from outside the box on 62 minutes after being picked out by Nainggolan.
The Bosnian striker threatened again five minutes as he blazed over from a narrow angle on the left after being slipped in by Perotti following a strong run through the middle of the park.
Dzeko then looked to turn provider with an exquisite through-ball for Gerson on 73 minutes, but the Brazilian failed to test Pyatov with a poor strike from inside the box.
Shakhtar’s European hopes suffered another blow 11 minutes from time with the dismissal of Ordets for hauling down Dzeko on the edge of the box as he broke through on goal, although Kolarov let them off after firing his free-kick straight into the wall.
The champions of Ukraine went for broke in the final five minutes of the match, knowing an equaliser would send them through to the last eight, but the Eternal City outfit held on for a narrow victory.
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