65 Thousand Spectators Witnessed Wijnaldum's Debut In Roma's 5-0 Win Over Shakhtar In The Last Pre-season Match

Georginio Wijnaldum (Instagram.com/@officialasroma)

JAKARTA - AS Roma successfully closed the pre-season match with a 5-0 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk. Tens of thousands of spectators were present to witness the victory which was also the presentation of the new Roma squad.

Quoted from Italian Football, Monday, in the match which took place at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday night, the audience who attended reached 65,300 people. The crowds of spectators in the stands not only guarded the victory but also witnessed the debut of the new Giallorossi player, Georginio Wijnaldum.

Officially being part of the Capital Sigala squad two days earlier, in this match Wijnaldum received a rousing welcome when he was introduced at the Stadio Olimpico. The Dutch midfielder came on in the 65th minute to replace Nicolo Zaniolo as Roma took a 4-0 lead.

At the beginning of this match, Jose Mourinho as the coach had implemented a 3-4-2-1 scheme which also gave the opportunity to other new players, namely Paulo Dybala who was paired with Nicolo Zaniolo and Tammy Abraham on the front lines.

The result, in the 19th minute Roma managed to open the scoring through the execution of Lorenzo Pellegrini who took advantage of a breakthrough bait from Abraham. The Capital Wolves' continuous attack made them close the first half with a 3-0 advantage through additional goals from Gianluca Mancini in the 41st minute and Yukhym Konoplya's own goal in the 45+1 minute.

After halftime, Mourinho's club is increasingly showing its fangs. The Wolves managed to score two additional goals through the action of Nicolo Zaniolo in the 59th minute and Edoardo Bove contributed the fifth goal in the 87th minute.

AS Roma's landslide victory over Skahktar closed AS Roma's pre-season with almost perfect consistency. Because, they have recorded four wins, one draw, and one loss throughout the pre-season agenda.

Before beating Shakhtar, AS Roma first toppled Portimonense (2-0), Sunderland (2-0), and Tottenham Hotspur (1-0). As for the only defeat AS Roma suffered against a team from Portugal, Sporting CP (2-3).

After the pre-season agenda is completed, AS Roma will start the 2022/2023 season by facing Salernitana in the first week of the Italian League's top caste, Serie A. The Salernitana vs Roma duel will be held at Arechi Stadium on Monday, August 15 in the morning WIB.