Serie A: Late El Shaarawy goal secures Roma win over 10-man Monza

Roma moved up to sixth in the table, ahead of the rest of the weekend’s matches. It could find itself 10 points off the top if AC Milan beats third-place Juventus later.

Stephan El Shaarawy scores the winning goal during the Serie A match between AS Roma and AC Monza at Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

A 90th-minute goal from Stephan El Shaarawy secured a 1-0 win for AS Roma over ten-man Monza at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday, giving the host its third consecutive Serie A win.

A brave Monza side, which had Danilo D’Ambrosio sent off in the 41st minute after a second booking, looked like holding Roma to a scoreless draw, before El Shaarawy’s late goal gave the home team all three points.

“They didn’t deserve to lose the game,” Mourinho said afterwards, “My team was always in difficulty, we made a lot of mistakes and we suffered. It was a game with a low technical level but a high emotional one.”

It was a goal which involved four Roma substitutes. Nicola Zalewski’s cross from the left was headed back across the area by Rasmus Kristensen, El Shaarawy nodded the ball behind him and Sardar Azmoun chested it down before taking his shot.

Azmoun’s effort was blocked down by Monza’s diving defenders but the ball only went as far as El Shaarawy who hit a sweet right-footed volley which gave keeper Michele Di Gregorio no chance.

The goal not only brought Monza to its knees, but also an ecstatic Jose Mourinho. Roma’s poor start to the season meant it began the day in 11th place but it now moves up to sixth on 14 points, overtaking Monza which slips to 11th on 12 points.

“I’m proud of my guys and the performance they gave,” Monza manager Raffaele Palladino said, “In 10 against 11, we played a great game. That’s also football, we didn’t deserve it and this game will help us grow.”

In stoppage time the Roma manager was shown a red card for gestures made towards the Monza staff, and it means Mourinho won’t be on the bench for Roma’s next league game, away to his former club Inter Milan.

“I don’t know why I got the red card, I only made a gesture to the bench, not a single word,” Mourinho said, “The Monza bench put a lot of pressure on the referee, they shouldn’t have behaved like that.”

Monza was unbeaten in five games coming into this fixture, and had gone three games without conceding a goal. Di Gregorio pulled off two fine saves in the first half, and Roma hit the post twice in the second half before finding that winning goal.