Conference League | Bodo/Glimt 2-1 Roma: New Norwegian nightmare for Mourinho

Roma revived their Bodo/Glimt nightmare with another defeat in Norway, this time 2-1 decided by a late free header after Lorenzo Pellegrini had opened the scoring in the Conference League quarter-final.

They now need to win the second leg at the Olimpico by more than one clear goal to reach the semi-final.

This was the first leg of the Conference League quarter-final, but these sides met here in October during the group stage when Bodo/Glimt emerged shock 6-1 winners. They also drew 2-2 at the Olimpico, but both teams had changed a great deal in the intervening months. Top scorer Ola Solbakken was out with flu symptoms, a loss as he scored three of his six Conference League goals past the Giallorossi this season, while Nicolò Zaniolo and Leonardo Spinazzola were out of action.

The hosts had the first chance when Ulrik Saltnes saw his strike take a tiny deflection off Gianluca Mancini to skim the near post, while Henrikh Mkhitaryan fired straight at the goalkeeper and Nicola Zalewski fired over.

Tammy Abraham gathered from Mkhitaryan with his back to goal, turned his marker and forced a desperate one-on-one save from Nikita Haikin.

Roma broke the deadlock in Norway just before half-time, as Mkhitaryan flicked on a Sergio Oliveira through ball for Pellegrini, who on the bounce fired into the roof of the net from a very tight angle at the near post.

Gilbert Koomson sprinted forward on the counter and Rui Patricio took the sting out of his shot from a tricky angle.

Bodo/Glimt equalised with only their second real shot on target. Brice Wembangomo had a snapshot from the edge of the box, it took a decisive deflection off Ulrik Saltnes and completely wrong-footed Rui Patricio, so he could only palm it back into the net.

The hosts saw their confidence boosted and started pumping balls into the box for increasingly desperate defending, including a Mancini block to take the sting out of Pellegrino’s effort so Rui Patricio could smother at the near post.

Mancini went off injured and Haikin flew to push a Pellegrini screamer out of the top corner, while Marash Kumbulla and Pellegrini correctly had goals ruled offside.

Abraham would’ve had a penalty when he got to a loose ball before Haikin and was brought down, but the Roma strike was offside anyway.

Instead, Bodo/Glimt turned it around in the final minute when a Pellegrino free kick found Hugo Vetlesen for a totally free header from eight yards. He was completely unmarked, but Matias Vina had also given away the entirely avoidable free kick in the first place.

Vina also had an attacking move to potentially equalise in stoppages, but ballooned it well off target.

Bodo/Glimt 2-1 Roma

Pellegrini 43 (R), Saltnes 56 (B), Vetlesen 89 (B)

Bodø/Glimt: Haikin; Sampsted, Moe (Kvile 91), Høibråten, Wembangomo; Vetlesen, Saltnes, Hagen; Koomson (Mugisha 82), Espejord (Boniface 77), Pellegrino

Roma: Rui Patricio; Mancini (Smalling 68), Kumbulla, Ibanez; Karsdorp, Cristante, Sergio Oliveira, Zalewski (Vina 65); Pellegrini; Mkhitaryan (Shomurodov 65), Abraham

Ref: Gozubuyuk (NED)