Llorente’s Late Heroics Salvage a Point for Roma in 2–2 Draw With Fiorentina

Thanks in part to their 4-0 romp over Brighton in the first leg of their Europa League Round of 16 matchup against Roberto De Zerbi’s men, Daniele De Rossi and Roma had a bit more breathing room in today’s league fixture against Fiorentina. Had Roma not beaten Brighton so soundly on Thursday, De Rossi would have likely rested critical players like Romelu Lukaku or Paulo Dybala with an eye on next week’s return leg in Brighton. But thanks to that four-goal cushion, De Rossi had more wiggle room with today’s lineup.

Speaking to the importance of today’s fixture, De Rossi rolled out a starting eleven featuring Dybala, Lukaku, and his usual heavy hitters, save for Lorenzo Pellegrini, who gave way to Houssem Aouar this afternoon. Rasmus Kristensen’s suspension meant De Rossi had to juggle his backline, starting Angeliño at right-back and Evan Ndicka on the left. However, they essentially functioned as a three-man backline once the match began.

Roma wasted little time storming up the pitch. In the first minute, Leandro Paredes sprung Angeliño down the right flank with a well-played long ball, but the Spanish defender couldn’t get a clean strike on the ball. Lukaku fired on goal moments later, testing Fiorentina keeper Pietro Terracciano with a low shot at the near right post, which he smothered with relative ease.

Where Thursday’s match against Brighton was a veritable track meet, Roma couldn’t carve through the Fiorentina midfield quite so easily, resulting in a slower pace of play and fewer clean looks on goal. Considering the sluggish pace, it wasn’t surprising that the game’s first goal came via the setpiece, with Luca Ranieri putting Fiorentina on top with a well-struck header in the 18th minute.

De Rossi’s Roma has done many great things over the past six weeks, but they’ve seldom trailed against an opponent, giving the Giallorossi a new challenge as they looked to keep pace with the top of the table. With a one-goal lead in hand, Fiorentina continued to press high up the pitch, forcing Dybala to pick up the ball deep in Roma territory, taking the sting out of De Rossi’s previously aggressive attack.

Things continued to slide downhill for Roma, as Gianluca Mancini was subbed off in the 33rd minute for Dean Huisen. After drawing a yellow card in the 6th minute, Mancini continued to bait the referee with a series of rash challenges, leaving De Rossi little choice.

Roma’s struggles continued for the remainder of the half. With time and space suddenly precious commodities thanks to Fiorentina’s relentless high press, Roma’s high-flying attack ground to a halt. The up-tempo, quick-passing attack that eviscerated Brighton a few days ago was capped at the knees. Roma frequently struggled to break the press and establish any fluidity, resulting in hasty passes, speculative shots, and desperate attempts to win the ball back.

Something had to change in the second half; otherwise, Roma would squander the chance to pull within one point of fifth-place Bologna.

Second Half
While De Rossi didn’t make any substitutions to start the second frame by shifting Angeliño back to his natural left-back spot, Roma was effectively playing with four at the back, with Huijsen serving as a de facto right back. This subtle shift made Roma far more aggressive to start the second half. They pushed further up the pitch and tested Terracciano with multiple attempts in the opening five minutes, including a stinging effort from Cristante.

With Roma knocking on the door, you sensed that it was only a matter of time before they found paydirt. And while it required a lucky deflection, the Giallorossi leveled the match when Houssem Aouar headed home a low cross from Angeliño in the 58th minute.

Angeliño nearly doubled his pleasure moments later when he fired a cross towards the fire right post, picking out a streaking Cristante. However, the pass was just a bit too heavy for Cristante to lash onto. Still, Roma looked reinvigorated, thanks largely to Angeliño’s devices on the left flank.

But Roma’s luck would soon sour, as Fiorentina snatched a second goal in the 69th minute when Rolando Mandragora poked home a redirected ball in the box, one that Aouar got a boot to but couldn’t clear the danger.

With roughly 20 minutes remaining, De Rossi made a pair of attacking changes in the 73rd minute, swapping out Dybala and El Shaarawy for Tommaso Baldanzi and Nicola Zalewski, respectively. But the match was nearly put out of reach after Paredes took Andrea Belotti down in the box, gifting the Viola a late penalty to potentially ice the match. But, just as he did against Feyenoord in the Europa League, Mile Svilar rose to the occasion, denying Cristiano Biraghi’s low-and-to-the-left attempt.

Just when it seemed like Svilar’s heroics would go for naught, Roma pulled a rabbit out of their hat at the death, stealing a point in their last touch of the match thanks to Diego Llorente, who scored a cracking goal moments before the final whistle.

At first blush, this looked like your typical chaotic goal that required multiple lucky breaks, but Pellegrini played an inch-perfect ball to Ndicka in the box, who, in turn, headed the ball to Llorente in space for the resounding equalizer.

Final Thoughts
I’m not entirely sure what we just witnessed, but it definitely wasn’t what many of us expected. Fiorentina is a tough opponent, but after rolling through De Rossi’s first handful of matches and fresh off a 4-0 waxing of Brighton in Europe, this felt like a safe three points for Roma.

And while the match started well enough for the Giallorossi, it wasn’t long before they were consumed by the Viola’s high press and wing play. Thanks to Fiorentina’s aggressive approach, Roma’s attack was rendered moot, with the sharp passing and incisive movement we’ve come to love over the past six weeks vanishing like dust in the wind.

De Rossi may have gotten the initial game plan all wrong, but credit the young manager for realizing the error of his ways and changing his approach and formation for the second half. While it wasn’t exactly a complete 180, Angeliño was noticeably more comfortable in his natural position, while Dybala and Cristante were pushing higher up the pitch. After a 10-minute flurry to start the second half, it felt inevitable that Roma would storm back to claim the lead.

They may have fallen short of that mark, but they kept their wits about them and pulled off one of the most stunning finishes we’ve seen in years. While a victory would have pulled Roma within one point of 5th place Bologna, this draw keeps De Rossi’s men three points behind Thiago Motta’s side.