Roma held to an unimpressive goalless draw by CSKA Sofia

Chris Smalling-AS Roma

The Giallorossi played out a goalless draw at Stadio Olimpico.

Roma have played out a goalless draw against CSKA Sofia on the matchday 2 of Europa League.

The Italians went with a different line up to all have seen this season, with the likes of  Chris Smalling and Gonzalo Villar starting the game.

The home side got off to a flying start as they kept the opponents’ defence busy. Spanish midfielder Villar saw his shot saved by Busatto while Smalling’s header was disallowing following the offside call on Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

Mkhitaryan had the best chance around the half-hour mark before his volley hit the top of the crossbar.

CSKA also had their turn in the second half as they looked to pounce on the spillages from Pau Lopez.

The Giallorossi went all guns in the final stage in search of a goal but it was to little effect in the end.

The draw marked Roma’s second in a row following their last week’s Serie A result against Milan. 

Roma started their Europa League campaign on a high note, coming from behind to beat Young Boys 2-1. Their form in Serie A is also unhinged since the early defeat against Verona.

Roma manager Paulo Fonseca offered his thoughts on the draw, stating that his side lacked intensity for the entire game.

“I think we played without intensity in attack. We got there so many times and made the wrong final pass, but we did it all slowly and without the right intensity.”

“I think we’ve been playing well recently and scored many goals. If we want to compare with how we started last season, the team is in much better shape now.”