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At 1:30 a.m. Beijing time on December 23, the 19th round of Serie A ushered in a match, and Roma faced Sampdoria at home. Roma's first 18 rounds of matches have achieved 10 wins, 1 draw and 7 losses, which is decent and a certain distance from the Champions League zone. However, Roma have been in pretty good form lately, with a three-game winning streak in all competitions, including a 3-2 win over CSKA Sofia in the UEFA and a league defeat over Spezia and Atalanta. In the last match against Atalanta, Roma played at a very high level, and the sharp counterattacks repeatedly achieved results, allowing Atalanta to swallow a big defeat. Being able to play such a good result against a team of Atalanta's level can greatly boost the confidence of Roma players. This time Roma's opponent is Sampdoria, who has won and lost each other in two legs last season. Roma's goal at home was naturally to win the match, but unfortunately, Roma only got one draw.
Mourinho lined up in a 3142 formation. Patricio served as the starting goalkeeper. Gianluca Mancini, Smalling and Ibanez are paired at 3 defenders. Christant single back. Karstdorp, Mkhitaryan, Velletu and Binia make up four midfielders. Tammy Abraham and Zaniolo strike together as two forwards. Kares Perez, Shomurodov, Sharawi and Mayoral sat on the bench. Lorenzo Pellegrini is sidelined with injury.
Roma entered the form relatively quickly after the start of the game, with Abraham and Binia posing a succession of threats, but neither of them scored. And Sampdoria didn't create a chance to shoot for a long time. However, after playing for more than 20 minutes, the game gradually became open, with some opportunities on both sides, but neither scored. Of these, Tammy Abraham had the best chance in the 36th minute, with a close-range header that didn't top the bounds of the goal frame. At half-time, the score was still 0-0! Roma had only 46 percent possession in the first half and seven shots on goal, but the quality of the shots was very low, with only 1 shot on target and failed to score. Sampdoria, on the other hand, had only four shots on goal, one on target, and also did not score.
In the second half, Sampdoria had the opportunity to score first, but Candreva's shot was rejected by the upright. Rome, who escaped the attack, stepped up their attack, and shooting opportunities kept coming, but neither Zaniolo nor Gian scored. It wasn't until the 71st minute that Roma broke the deadlock when substitute Shomurodov scored with a low shot. With little time left, Roma were unable to retain their advantage, being penetrated in a corner kick and Gabiardini scored a stunning goal. The final score was set at 1-1 and Roma conceded two points. The result disappointed Mourinho too much.
Roma failed to take all three points from Sampdoria, leaving Roma in sixth place with 32 points, two points behind Fifth Place Juventus. For Mourinho, more difficult moments are ahead, and the devils are on the schedule. Next, Roma will play AC Milan first, followed by Juventus. These two plays will directly affect Rome's prospects for a four-year race.