Plzen pleasure: Dzeko scores three more against favourite target
ROME: Edin Dzeko can’t stop scoring against Viktoria Plzen.
The Bosnia striker netted a hattrick to raise his tally to nine goals in eight matches against the Czech side as AS Roma revived their Champions League campaign with a 5-0 rout.
Turkey winger Cengiz Under added another for Roma – having previously hit the crossbar – and 19-year-old forward Justin Kluivert also knocked in a rebound.
In the Europa League two years ago, Dzeko scored a hattrick for Roma against Plzen.
He also got two against Plzen in the Champions League while with Manchester City in the 2013-2014 group phase.
His other goals against Plzen came when Dzeko played in the Czech Republic for Teplice from 2005-2007.
Surprise semi-finalists last season, Roma are building confidence after their emotional 3-1 win over Lazio in the Rome derby on Saturday.
Having been thoroughly outclassed by three-time defending champions Real Madrid in the Group G opener, Roma are back in the battle for the knockout rounds.
CSKA Moscow, who beat Real 1-0 in Tuesday’s other group match, lead with four points.
Roma and Real have three points each and Plzen are last with one.
Dzeko can speak Czech fluently and he was quick to seize upon holes in Plzen’s defence.
The first goal came when Dzeko was set up by Aleksandar Kolarov to beat the offside trap three minutes in, enabling the Roma No. 9 to place a shot in the far bottom corner.
Under, Roma’s 21-year-old winger, rocked the goalframe with a long shot near the halfhour mark and Kluivert then protested to no avail for a penalty when the ball appeared to go off a defender’s arm.
Before the break, Dzeko scored his second with an expert chest control and half volley from close range following a cross from Under.
He nearly had another later on but goalkeeper Matus Kozacik denied him with his boot.
Under scored with an angled shot after being set up by Lorenzo Pellegrini, who maintained his exceptional form from the derby.
Pellegrini also helped set up Roma’s fourth goal with a cross-field pass to Under, whose shot was palmed away by Kozacik into the path of the waiting Kluivert.
Kluivert – the son of former Holland standout Patrick Kluivert – became the youngest Roma player to score in the Champions League.
Dzeko completed his hattrick in stoppage time by rising above the defence for a header from a corner.
Dzeko has now scored eight goals in his last seven Champions League appearances; ending a six-match scoreless streak in all competitions. — AP