El Shaarawy masterclass downs Empoli, sends Roma up to third
MILAN: Stephan El Shaarawy hit a brace as Roma continued their push for a place in next season’s Champions League with a 3-1 win over Empoli on Saturday. Roma’s sixth consecutive win moved them up to provisional third place in Serie A, five points behind leaders Juventus and four behind second-placed Napoli ahead of their respective games against Inter Milan and Fiorentina. “Our sixth win in a row is a huge boost to morale, now we have to wait to see what happens with Fiorentina and Napoli,” El Shaarawy told Sky Sport after the game.
In Saturday’s late match, AC Milan secured a 1-0 home win over Torino thanks to Luca Antonelli’s goal on the stroke of half-time which saw them consolidate sixth place with a fourth win in five games. Milan coach Sinisa Mihajlovic is now casting his eye on Roma, six points ahead of them in third. “Over the next three games we will see if we have what it takes to finish in third place. I believe we do, and so do the lads,” he told Sky.
Roma have been transformed since Luciano Spalletti took over from sacked Frenchman Rudi Garcia for his second spell at the club, but it was an enterprising El Shaarawy who made all the difference as the Giallorossi kept themselves in the hunt for Europe’s premier club competition. The Italian, who failed to find the net for the first six months of a loan spell at Monaco in France’s first division, broke the deadlock after just five minutes at the Carlo Castellani stadium when he curled a rightfooted shot into the far top corner from over 25 meters.
An Ervin Zukanovic own-goal, after Roma ‘keeper Wojciech Szczesny punched Mario Rui’s cross into Zukanovic’s face, leveled the game on 22 minutes but Roma were back in front five minutes later thanks to Miralem Pjanic after the Bosnian got the rebound from his own free-kick off the defensive wall. Empoli came fighting back late in the second half, but El Shaarawy grabbed his fourth goal in five league games 16 minutes from time to wrap up a precious win.
The Italy international suggested Spalletti deserved as much praise as either himself or his teammates. “It’s my first brace for Roma, but the result is what matters most. The coach asked us to keep possession and try to punish Empoli on the counter and that’s what we did,” he said. A highly-organized AC Milan finally cracked Torino’s busy defense after sustained pressure when Antonelli fired home a loose ball at a corner just ahead of the half time.
Milan ‘keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma only turned 17 this week, but he again pulled off a couple of fine saves to show why Mihajlovic continues to trust him. Carlos Bacca headed home after another Milan corner but the referee correctly ruled the Colombian striker offside. Torino ran out of steam in the later stages and Milan played out the game comfortably and are now nine points ahead of Sassuolo in seventh. Serie A action resumed yesterday when the highlight was Inter’s visit to Juventus for the ‘Derby d’Italia’. Fiorentina, in fourth at a point behind Roma, host Napoli today when both sides will be looking for the win that helps them forget their elimination from the Europa League in midweek.