LECCE vs ROMA 0-1 | HIGHLIGHTS | Dovbyk Wins it for the Giallorossi | Serie A 2024/25
LECCE vs ROMA
AS Roma had marched into Lecce with a steely resolve, and by the time the final whistle blew, they had carved out a seventh consecutive Serie A victory, edging out the hosts with a late 1-0 triumph that deepened Lecce’s woes, marking their fifth straight league defeat. The match had unfolded under a gray Puglian sky, with Roma arriving as a team in scintillating form, their recent run a testament to a newfound grit and precision under their current stewardship. Lecce, by contrast, had staggered into the fixture on a downward spiral, their confidence battered by a string of losses that had left them teetering perilously close to the relegation abyss. From the outset, the game had promised a clash of contrasting fortunes, and as the first half unfolded, it delivered a contest that teetered on a knife-edge, with neither side able to assert dominance despite flashes of intent. Roma’s Angelino had emerged as an early protagonist, seizing a golden opportunity just nine minutes in when he deftly maneuvered past Lecce’s goalkeeper Wladimiro Falcone. With the goal gaping, the left-back’s strike had seemed destined to ripple the net, only to veer agonizingly into the side-netting—a miss that left Roma fans clutching their heads in frustration. It was a moment that encapsulated the first half: chances had materialized, but the finishing touch remained elusive, setting the stage for a battle that would hinge on fine margins.
Down the other end, Lecce had refused to shrink into their shells, summoning a response that hinted at their resilience despite their dismal run. Porir Johann Helgason had been the spark, collecting the ball on the edge of Roma’s penalty area and unleashing a shot that whistled just wide of Mile Svilar’s post, a near-miss that stirred the home crowd into a fleeting swell of hope. As the half wore on, Lecce had grown bolder, their play from the back gaining a rhythm that belied their recent struggles—until a calamitous error undid their progress. A wayward pass had gifted Roma’s Manu Kone a chance to pounce right in front of Falcone’s goal, the midfielder intercepting with predatory instinct. Yet, Falcone had stood tall, thwarting Kone’s point-blank effort with a reflex save that kept the scoreline level. The pendulum had swung again moments later, with Svilar called into action at Roma’s end, first parrying Antonino Gallo’s angled drive with a sprawling dive, then clutching Jesper Karlsson’s follow-up strike with assurance. The first 45 minutes had closed with the deadlock intact, a testament to the goalkeepers’ vigilance and the attackers’ profligacy, leaving both sets of supporters to ponder what might shift the tide after the interval.
The second half had dawned with a lull, the frenetic pace of the opening period giving way to a more cautious probing as both teams sized each other up. It was Nikola Krstovic who had jolted the game back to life, the Lecce forward attempting to seize the initiative with an audacious long-range effort that caught Svilar off-guard. The ball had dipped and swerved, bouncing just wide of the post as the Roma keeper scrambled, a moment that briefly rekindled Lecce’s belief they could upset the odds. Roma, however, had soon wrested back control, their attacking intent sharpening as the minutes ticked by. Falcone had faced a stern test, first palming away Matías Soule’s venomous strike from distance, then producing a stunning reflex save to deny Artem Dovbyk at the near post with an outstretched leg—a stop that seemed to defy the laws of physics. The ensuing corner had brought a glimmer of reward for Roma’s persistence, as Gianluca Mancini tapped in a flicked-on header at the back post, only for the linesman’s flag to snuff out the celebrations with an offside call. The disallowed goal had hung in the air like a taunt, a reminder of how tightly contested this duel had become, with every decision carrying the weight of the three points at stake. Lecce’s resistance had held firm, but Roma’s pressure was mounting, their belief unshaken despite the setbacks.
With just ten minutes remaining, the breakthrough had finally arrived, and it bore the hallmark of Roma’s talisman, Artem Dovbyk. The Ukrainian striker, who had already notched double figures in the league that season, had showcased his class once more, cutting inside with a deft turn before rifling a low shot into the bottom corner—his 11th Serie A goal of the campaign. The Allianz Stadium had erupted as the ball nestled in the net, the tension that had gripped the visitors’ bench dissolving into jubilation. It was a strike that epitomized Roma’s late-game tenacity, a quality that had defined their recent surge up the table. Lecce, for all their pluck, had been undone by a moment of individual brilliance, their fifth consecutive defeat sealed with a cruel inevitability. The 1-0 scoreline had become a familiar refrain for Roma, marking their fourth such victory in this seven-game winning streak, and their tenth clean sheet of the season—a statistic that underscored the defensive backbone underpinning their resurgence. For Lecce, the loss had left them stranded just outside the relegation zone, their early promise evaporating into a stark reality of struggle. Roma’s players had trudged off the pitch weary but triumphant, their late heroics lifting them—at least temporarily—into the European qualification places, a perch that felt increasingly deserved.
This victory had not been a spectacle of flowing football or overwhelming dominance, but it had encapsulated the pragmatism that had fueled Roma’s climb. The first half had laid bare the parity between the sides, with Angelino’s early miss and Helgason’s near-hit framing a contest where chances were scarce but fiercely contested. Falcone’s heroics had kept Lecce in the fight, his saves against Kone and Dovbyk the stuff of a goalkeeper possessed, while Svilar’s interventions had ensured Roma’s clean sheet remained intact. The second half had tested both teams’ resolve, Krstovic’s ambitious strike a fleeting threat that Roma had weathered before asserting their authority. Soule’s long-range effort and Mancini’s disallowed goal had been stepping stones to the decisive blow, with Dovbyk’s composure proving the difference. That Roma had emerged victorious owed much to their ability to seize the moment, a trait honed over weeks of grinding out results. Lecce, meanwhile, had fought valiantly but lacked the cutting edge to halt their slide, their mistakes—like the one that gifted Kone his chance—proving costly against a side as ruthless as Roma had become. The match had ended with Roma’s fans chanting Dovbyk’s name, their faith in this team’s upward trajectory reaffirmed, while Lecce’s supporters filed out in silence, the weight of another defeat pressing heavily on their shoulders. In the grand tapestry of the Serie A season, this 1-0 result had been a small but vital thread for Roma, weaving them closer to their European ambitions.
