Roma suffers its first defeat of the Ivan Juric era in Sweden. At the Boras Arena, Elfsborg wins 1-0 with a penalty from Baidoo, complicating the giallorossi’s path in the Europa League. They now have just one point in the standings, earned at the Olimpico against Athletic Bilbao on the opening day. Compared to the match against Venezia, Juric made six changes to the lineup.
In the first half, Roma enjoyed significant possession (67%), but struggled to create offensive opportunities in the box. They registered eleven shots, three of which came from Soulè, yet the team never posed a serious threat to Pettersson’s goal during the opening forty-five minutes. Elfsborg had less possession (109 completed passes compared to Roma’s 371) but was more effective in attack. In the 17th minute, the Zeneli brothers sparked some excitement: Arber set up Besfort, who broke away from Ndicka and fired a right-footed shot, only to be denied by Svilar. The Roma keeper made another save in the 19th minute, stopping a header from Henriksson, and again in the 43rd minute on a volley from the same Besfort Zeneli. However, this time the action stemmed from a handball by Baldanzi in the area that went unnoticed by referee Tohver but was caught by VAR: Baidoo stepped up to take the penalty and converted without error.
The first substitutions from Ivan Juric came in the 65th minute: Shomurodov, Abdulhamid, and Soulè made way for Dovbyk, El Shaarawy, and Dybala. The change had an immediate impact. El Shaarawy delivered a cross from the right, and Pisilli had a golden opportunity in the center of the box, but Pettersson instinctively denied the goal to the giallorossi academy product. In the 72nd minute, Roma’s coach introduced Pellegrini in place of Baldanzi. Four minutes later, the number 7 had a chance to equalize: he combined with Dovbyk, found space in the box but shot wide of the target. In the 83rd minute, Pellegrini tried again, adjusting his aim, but this time the crossbar denied him a goal. Roma returned home with a defeat, making their European journey even more complicated.
