Mkhitaryan the hat-trick hero as Roma climb into the top 4 but lose Verona appeal

Roma picked up their 4th win of the season as they beat Genoa 3-1 at the weekend and the hero who emerged from the game was Henrikh Mkhitaryan. The player scored a hat-trick to boost his club who left the Genoa came with back to back wins.

This was a game dominated by the visitors Roma who had 6 shots on target in the first half alone and it was a real surprise that the first half looked like it was going to end 0-0. But with 2 minutes of stoppage time to play Roma found their goal. Mkhitaryan the number 77 rose as if he was standing on a ladder such was his advantage for a final Roma first half corner and drove an unbeatable header into the net.

In football when one team scores just before half time it can have quite a psychological effect on the game. However Genoa came out fighting in the second half and just 5 minutes into the second period Genoa found themselves level. And what a brilliant one it was. Football is a team game after all and this felt like the ultimate one. Starting deep in their own half the club played one touch football, it took five passes to open up Roma and stun them and Marko Pjaca slotted away with ease. His reaction to the goal said it all, and it is goals like these that football is reminded of how much it is missing the fans.

Having said that with Genoa being at home their fans would be ultimately left disappointed as Roma struck back. It took until the 66th minute and was slightly scrappy but showed how the club do not give up loose balls, eventually the ball fell to Bruno Peres who simply had to tap a cross into the running Mkhitaryan to easily score his 2nd of the game.

Mkhitaryan’s third and Roma’s winner was sealed with five minutes to go, this time Pedro was the provider. And it was the best goal of the game. A neat cross on the edge of the area found Mkhitaryan just inside it who smashed the ball home in fantastic style. It was a game that Roma dominated from start to finish having 18 attempts on goal. Genoa of course did play their part but there was always likely only going to be one winner at the weekend. Roma are now in 4th place on 14 points and three points behind league leaders AC Milan.

Understandably Roma coach Paulo Fonseca was full of praise for his side. “We showed great personality and we deserved to win. We had four or five clear chances to score and we were always focused at the back. They scored on our only mistake. It’s important to feel this commitment. We conceded one goal but we scored three and we could have done more. After Genoa’s goal we had a great reaction, we scored two goals and it’s important to feel this ambition.”

Roma lose Verona appeal

In theory Roma haven’t lost this season although anyone can see by their league statistics that they have lost a game. This is because of their match v Verona earlier in the season where the club fielded an ineligible player by mistake in Amadou Diawara. The Italian FA voided the game at 0-0 and gave Verona a 3-0 default victory going by the rules. The appeal has been officially rejected though and Verona keep their win.

Mkhitaryan the hat-trick hero

Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s hat trick were his first goals of the season and he revealed that injured striker Edin Dzeko spoke to him before the goal and said score a goal. Well he did better than that. Even though it was first goals of the season he has assisted in another 4 goals already and has been an important part of the clubs strengths.

Mkhitaryan earned 14 fantasy points at the weekend and he has 28 in total which means he is currently the most successful player at Roma to have in your team.

It’s the international break now and Roma’s next game isn’t until November 22nd where they will play Parma at home.

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