Karlernäs' Goal Not Enough: Como Women Defeated 2-1 by Roma

The match between AS Roma and F.C. Como Women, the early game of the 12th round of the Serie A Women's League, ends 2-1 in favor of the Giallorosse. With this defeat, the Lariane stay on 16 points in the standings, in 5th place, awaiting Milan’s Sunday game in the derby against Inter.

Stefano Sottili’s team fails to maintain their first-half lead, conceding two second-half goals to Roma, which secure the victory for Alessandro Spugna’s side.

In the first half, Como Women took the lead with Karlernäs at the 10th minute, after Ceasar failed to hold onto Nischler’s shot. For the Swedish forward, it was her third goal of the season, and the second against Roma, following her goal in the first half of the season.

In the second half, Roma, boosted by the substitutions of Glionna at the end of the first half and Di Guglielmo in the second, became more dangerous. They first equalized at the 59th minute through Di Guglielmo and then found the winning goal eight minutes later. Giacinti, with a volley and half overhead kick, took full advantage of a brilliant assist from Giugliano to make it 2-1.

Here are the words of Swedish midfielder Julia Karlernäs after the match: “I’m sorry that my goal today wasn’t enough. It’s always nice to score, but I would have preferred to bring home some points. It’s really a shame. We lacked some possession; we were dangerous offensively, but when we don’t control the ball, it’s hard for us to keep up and we end up defending more. Now we have to focus on getting points to try to reach 5th place. Our next match against Sampdoria will be very important in that sense.”

Stefano Sottili’s Analysis

On the result: “We’re disappointed we didn’t create more problems for a strong team like Roma. We tried, but we couldn’t capitalize on those two or three chances that came our way during the match. We especially lacked the final pass. In the second half, we did a bit too little; our rhythm dropped, which was also due to our opponents’ undeniable quality in ball control and in one-on-one situations. This obviously led us to suffer and concede more than we did in the first half.”

On the seasonal goal: “There’s a strong desire to return to play here in Rome in the second half of the season. Also, reaching the Scudetto Pool would be a fitting and deserved reward for these girls, who have grown a lot since the beginning of the season and are gaining great confidence playing against the top teams. We know we haven’t earned a point against them yet, but we’ve always been able to put in important performances, and that should give us hope for the future.”

F.C. Como Women’s next league match is scheduled for Sunday, December 15, at 12:30 PM against Sampdoria, at the "La Sciorba" Sports Complex in Genoa.

Match Summary

AS Roma Line-Up: 12 Ceasar; 23 Cissoko, 8 Kumagai, 2 Minami; 14 Aigbogun (46’ Thogersen), 10 Giugliano, 22 Pandini (46’ Di Guglielmo), 20 Greggi, 11 Haavi (35’ Glionna); 15 Dragoni; 9 Giacinti (85’ Corelli). Allenatore: Alessandro Spugna

Bench: 30 Kresche, 52 Merolla, 3 Di Guglielmo, 16 Corelli, 18 Glionna, 19 Hanshaw, 25 Thogersen, 29 Soares Martins, 32 Linari, 51 Troelsgaard. 

Como Women Line-Up: 22 Gilardi; 2 Marcussen, 24 Rizzon, 3 Guagni (72’ Spinelli), 6 Bergersen; 16 Karlernäs, 27 Petzelberger, 20 Vaitukaityte (79’ Conc), 21 Picchi (65’ Skorvankova); 7 Nischler, 28 Kerr. Allenatore: Stefano Sottili

Bench: 30 Ruma, 78 De Bona, 4 Spinelli, 8 Skorvankova, 11 Conc, 15 Bianchi, 17 Sagen, 18 Hilaj, 23 D’Agostino. 

Scorers: 10’ Karlernäs (Como Women), 59’ Di Guglielmo (Roma), 67’ Giacinti (Roma)

Yellow Cards: 52’ Guagni (Como Women)

Red Cards : 0

MVP : Valentina Giacinti

Referee and assistants : Antonio Di Reda, Ferdinando Pizzoni, Luca Marucci e Francesco Illiano