Roma surprised a few onlookers with a dominant 2-0 win over Braga away from home in their Europa League last 32 first leg match. Now, Paulo Fonseca will expect his team to finish off the Portuguese team on Thursday night and move on to the last 16 of the competition.
The Giallorossi are unbeaten in three straight games in all competitions. They followed up their win in the Europa League with a disappointing nil-nil result against Benevento.
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Braga’s loss to Roma ended a seven-game unbeaten streak in all competitions. They did rebound at the weekend in the Primeira with a 2-0 victory over Tondela.
The first leg match saw Fonseca call upon warhorse Edin Dzeko. The former Manchester City striker opened the scoring for the Giallorossi in the fifth minute. Borja Mayoral added a second four minutes from time.
Although the game ended 2-0 in favour of Roma, Braga did hold the Italians for large parts of the game. They will hope to be better defensively on Thursday night and get two goals to force extra-time.
Fonseca has five names on his injury list going into the Europa League last 32 second leg. Davide Santon is likely to miss the game due to a muscle injury. Marash Kumbulla is also expected to sit out thanks to a muscle issue of his own.
Roger Ibanez, Bryan Cristante, and Chris Smalling are all three ruled out due to their respective injuries. They are all set for returns in March and could play on the last 16 if Roma reach that far.
One of the turning points of the first leg was a second yellow card and sending off to Braga’s Ricardo Esgaio. The sending off changed the tactics for Carlos Carvahal’s team. Esgaio will miss the second leg in Rome.
Joining him on the sidelines are David Carmo, Francisco Moura and Rui Fonte. All three are ruled out long-term with Moura set to miss the remainder of the campaign due to a knee injury.
Fonseca’s team merely need to see out the game on Thursday night to lead Roma into the Europa League last 16. The Giallorossi were eliminated in the last 16 by Sevilla a season ago.
Roma were by far the better team in the first leg. At home in Rome, they should once again win versus Braga as they seal progress to the next round. The Giallorossi and Braga should combine for over 2.5 goals as they both find the back of the net this week.