Stephan El Shaaraway's immediate follow-up attempt was denied, as was Jordan Veretout’s, marking for a furious but frustrating moment for the Giallorossi, who were desperately hunting for an equalizer as we crept towards the half-hour mark. With a loose ball bouncing around the Venezia area, Tammy Abraham lashed his long right leg onto the ball, sending a low screaming shot from the right edge of the box, only to see it strike the post-the fourth time Tammy has been foiled by the woodwork this season. Roma's best chance of the half came in the 27th minute. Eldor Shomurodov would respond moments later, trying to finesse a shot into the lower left hand corner of the goal, only to see it skirt just wide of the mark. The two clubs would trade barbs over the ensuing 10 minutes, highlighted by a beautifully struck shot off the boot of Davide Okereke for the home club that sailed just wide. While Jordan Veretout immediately assumed his normal position at the penalty spot, a rather lengthy VAR check judged that Lorenzo Pellegrini was actually offside, nullifying the penalty call. Photo by Maurizio Lagana/Getty Imagesįortune quickly swung back in Roma's favor when Tammy Abraham was taken down in the box by Ridgeciano Haps while chasing a loose ball. While that decision was all well and good, Venezia rendered Mourinho's tinkering moot almost immediately, seizing an early lead off a beautifully orchestrated setpiece that saw Mattia Caldara beat a hapless Rui Patrico from six yards out. It's a change some fans and pundits have been calling on for several weeks now but still somehow registered as a surprise. Gone was the 4-2-3-1, chucked out in favor of the 3-4-1-2 a move that puts nearly all of Roma's attacking cards on the table at once. But that wasn't the only shock in store for Roma fans.Īpart from the early kick-off time, José Mourinho unveiled a surprise of his own: a new formation. With a pre-dawn kickoff, this felt like the dark ages of foreign Serie A fandom, when we'd frequently have to roust ourselves out of bed to watch our digital heroes chase a ball on tiny 12-inch laptop screens in the wee hours of the morning. Roma's first trip to Venice in nearly two decades packed more than a few surprises for Roma fans, particularly those of us on the east coast.
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