Roma Vs. Shakhtar Donetsk: Jeremy Menez Bends Roma Within One, 3-2

A long ball looped over defense in the 59th minute gave Roma their best chance (to date) of the second half. The play looked destined for failure, with Dymtro Chygrynskiy quickly closing down the Roma captain. But an extra burst of speed from the veteran attacker allowed him to get to the ball before his opponent, before it went over the byline. His touch back to the edge of the box left a bouncing ball for Jeremy Menez. The French attack put his shot over the bar.

The look of frustration on Menez’s face seemed emblematic of Roma’s day. The spark plug wiped his face, shook his head and ran up field, carrying the frustration of a man for whom the day just wasn’t breaking right.

That feeling would last about 40 seconds, and hindsight, the reaction to the miss seems less frustration and more of an awakening - a player saying to himself, ‘C’mon, man. We got to get this together.’

After the restart, Roma quickly moved the ball back into their attacking half, finding Menez in the middle of the pitch. The attacker took the ball, fought of Jadson, and turned up field before letting go of a right footed shot from the top of the arc.

The shot gave Andriy Pyatov almost no chance. It started going well wide of the right post and then curled sharply toward net. Because it wasn’t overhit, the hook seemed much more prominent, easily going high into the Shaktar net, bringing Roma with one, 3-2.

Now in the 65th minute, Shakhtar coach Mircea Lucescu has responded by bringing on fresh legs. Eduardo is on. Douglas Costa takes his goal and assist to the locker room, Ukraine’s champions holding a one goal lead.