Roma secured their first and badly needed Europa League victory, as the Artem Dovbyk penalty proved enough to squeeze past Dynamo Kyiv.
The Giallorossi were in dire need of a boost after one point from two Europa League games, plus home defeat to Inter at the weekend. Alexis Saelemaekers and Stephan El Shaarawy were injured, with Gianluca Mancini and Matias Soulé suffering from flu symptoms. Dynamo Kyiv lost both UEFA matches, including 3-0 to Lazio, with Maksym Braharu suspended and Andriy Yarmolenko out of action.
See how it unfolded on the Liveblog.
The long periods of possession finally paid off when Tommaso Baldanzi was dragged back by Taras Mykhavko for a penalty, which Artem Dovbyk calmly converted to give Roma the lead.
Baldanzi then drilled just wide from distance, while Eduardo Guerrero couldn’t keep his header on target, but Enzo Le Fee got away with a horrible back-pass because Oleksandr Tymchyk’s angled drive skimmed the base of the far post.
Denys Popov managed to tap in from close range, but only after he had wandered into an offside position.
Valentyn Rubchynskyi was fortunate to avoid a second yellow card straight after the restart for scything into Nicola Zalewski.
Evan Ndicka flicked on a corner just beyond Dovbyk at the back post, while Lorenzo Pellegrini’s free kick hit the side-netting.
Eldor Shomurodov’s right-foot curler flashed wide of the far stick and Pellegrini fired straight at the goalkeeper.
Roma really should’ve locked the result down on 84 minutes after a wonderful team move with first-touch passes between Pellegrini and Dybala to send Shomurodov clear, but the Uzbekistan international somehow swept it wide from 10 yards undisturbed.
It remained open until the end, Pellegrini getting back to make a decisive interception on the Kabaiev pull-back from 12 yards.
Roma now have four points from three rounds in the Europa League table.
Roma 1-0 Dynamo Kyiv
Dovbyk pen 23 (R)
Player statistic
| 22' |  |
Taras Mykhavko | ||
| Artem Dovbyk |  |
23' | ||
| 36' | |
Valentyn Rubchynskyi | ||
| Angeliño | |
44' |
| 84' | |
Vladyslav Kabaev |
