Athletic Club battle back to claim crucial point at Ivan Juric’s Roma
After the unpopular sacking of the legendary Daniele De Rossi, Roma seemed to put that behind them after picking up their first win of the season in an emphatic 3-0 over Udinese on the weekend.
Jurić knows that as long as his side produce results on the pitch, then all the off-field drama will soon be forgotten, and his Giallorossi got off to a dominant start at the Olimpico.
Keeping over two-thirds of the ball, the hosts controlled the tempo but struggled to turn their domination into goalscoring chances.
That was until just after the half-hour mark however, as a quick break saw Tommaso Baldanzi feed Angeliño down the left flank, and the Spanish full-back whipped an inch-perfect onto the head of Artem Dovbyk who nodded in his third goal in as many games - giving the Romans a 1-0 lead going into the break.
Following a disappointing first-half performance, Ernesto Valverde’s men came out with renewed vigour and registered their first shot on target in the 51st minute - though it came via a tame Unai Gómez effort that Mile Svilar comfortably gathered.
Roma went in search of a second and came close to netting just before the hour mark after Matias Soulé pounced on a mixup at the back of the Athletic defence, but after driving into the box, the Argentine’s effort was saved by Julen Agirrezabala.
The visitors began to pile on the pressure in the final 30 minutes as they hunted an equaliser. However, the Giallorossi defence stood firm for the most part, dealing with multiple crosses into their box.
Both coaches made a host of changes which disrupted the flow to the contest, playing to the home side’s advantage.
But just as it looked like Roma would see out the victory without little threat to their goal, the Spanish outfit drew level in the 86th minute after a free-kick to the back post was headed back across goal by Unai Núñez for Aitor Paredes to nod in.
In the end, failing to hold onto victory will irk Jurić, but there has been significant improvements in Roma’s performances since taking charge a week ago.
Athletic extended their positive start to the season with four wins and two draws in eight games across all competitions with an impressive point after trailing for so long.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Aitor Paredes (Athletic Club)