Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored one and assisted the other for Cengiz Under, as Roma lead Lecce 2-0 at half-time.
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The mood was very different in these camps going in, as the hosts had lost three Serie A games in a row, whereas the Salentini were on three straight wins. Amadou Diawara, Javier Pastore Nicolò Zaniolo, Davide Zappacosta and Antonio Mirante were injured, with some tired after Thursday’s 1-0 Europa League victory over KAA Gent. Lecce missed Riccardo Saponara, Filippo Falco, Diego Farias and Khouma Babacar.
Lorenzo Pellegrini couldn’t keep his shot down after an inspired Edin Dzeko cross-field pass, then Dzeko received his assist only to stumble at the crucial moment.
Roma had a very strong start and took the deserved lead after 13 minutes. Henrikh Mkhitaryan saw Dzeko was wandering offside, so chose the other pass for Cengiz Under to burst through the centre and sweep home relatively undisturbed.
Dzeko started a move with a no-look pass for Under, then curled the return ball over from the edge of the box. Dzeko also sprung the offside trap to set up Pellegrini, who scuffed the finish wide from 12 yards.
There was a scare when Gianluca Mancini fell heavily after an acrobatic clearance and Bruno Peres couldn’t decide whether to put the ball out or not, fell asleep and needed Chris Smalling to make the decisive block on Zan Majer.
Dzeko was clearly in the mood for assists and after several attempts, managed to send Mkhitaryan clear to beat the on-rushing Vigorito for 2-0.
Roma 2-0 Lecce (Half-Time)
Under 13 (R), Mkhitaryan 37 (R)
Roma: Pau Lopez; Bruno Peres, Smalling, Mancini, Kolarov; Veretout, Cristante; Under, Pellegrini, Mkhitaryan, Dzeko
Lecce: Vigorito; Donati, Lucioni, Rossettini, Calderoni; Petriccione, Deiola, Majer; Mancosu, Barak; Lapadula
Ref: Giacomelli
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