Lille goalkeeper Berke Özer was the hero, saving a thrice-retaken penalty in a dramatic finale as Lille secured a famous 1-0 Europa League victory over AS Roma at the Stadio Olimpico on Thursday. It was the Italian side’s first home defeat since they lost at home to Torino last September by the same goal margin.
The highly anticipated tactical duel between two experienced managers, Roma’s Gian Piero Gasperini, 67, and Lille’s Bruno Genesio, 59, was ultimately decided by an early goal.
It took just six minutes for the visitors to strike. Hákon Haraldsson found the net to give Lille the lead, rewarding manager Genesio’s decision to deploy a classic 4-4-2 formation with the young Haraldsson partnering veteran Olivier Giroud up front just as predicted by Softfootball during its analysis.
Roma fought for an equaliser, with Aïssa Mandi producing a crucial goal-line clearance to deny Neil El Aynaoui just before half-time. The hosts, however, were largely frustrated by a well-organised Lille defence.
Giroud and Roma centre-back Mario Hermoso were engulfed in an intriguing mini-battle. Roma captain Pellegrini had a shot blocked from the edge of the box in the 25th minute as the home side stepped up the pace, but it was Lille who almost doubled their lead in the 30th minute after Osame Sahraoui exchanged passes with Haraldsson but drilled his effort wide off the left-hand post.
Lille always threatened on the break, and Giroud was almost the architect of the second goal, but for a save from Svilar in the 54th minute. It was time to introduce both Gianluca Mancini and Stephan El Shaarawy in place of Pellegrini and Hermoso. Manu Koné also came on for Bryan Cristante in the 69th minute, and Artem Dovbyk replaced Ferguson 10 minutes later.
The match exploded in the 81st minute when a VAR review penalised Mandi for handball. Roma were thus handed a lifeline, but Özer delivered a historic performance.
He first saved Artem Dovbyk’s spot-kick, only for the referee to order a retake for encroachment. Incredibly, Özer denied Dovbyk a second time from the spot. When Matías Soulè stepped up for the third attempt, the keeper completed his astonishing hat-trick of saves. Here is the statement from AS Roma’s official X handle after the third miss, which was a sign of disappointment.
Despite late pressure with three minutes added on, Lille held on for a memorable European victory. Facing their second consecutive Ligue 1 opponent after a 2-1 victory over Nice on Matchday 1, Roma struggled to break down a disciplined Lille side.
Watch below the jubilation from the Lille players as revealed by the club official’s X handle after the mind-blowing game that saw the Italian capital torn apart:
Gasperini’s famed 3-4-2-1 system created pressure but failed to produce an equaliser, handing his team their first defeat of the group stage in a match defined by a decisive early blow and the penalty-saving heroics of Lille goalkeeper Özer.
