AS Roma coach Luciano Spalletti remained defiant on the thorny issue of captain Francesco Totti after the out-of-favor club captain provided his first assist of the season in a frustrating 1-1 draw with Bologna on Monday.
Totti’s future at the club for whom he has played 23 seasons is a hot topic in Italy as the Serie A giants stall on offering the 39-year-old an extra year’s deal.
Partially due to injury, Totti has made only a handful of appearances this season, but when Il Re di Roma (the King of Rome) replaced Iago Falque at halftime he made an almost immediate impact.
Photo: AP
Roma were trailing 1-0 after a 25th-minute opener by Luca Rossettini, who capitalized on a moment of hesitation from Wojciech Szczesny at a free-kick to beat the Roma goalkeeper at his far post.
Lively Egyptian winger Mohamed Salah had already hit the post in the opening half and found the woodwork again minutes after the restart, but Salah made no mistake when he collected Totti’s through-ball moments later.
With only the goalkeeper to beat after Bologna’s offside trap malfunctioned, Salah slid the ball easily past Antonio Mirante to pull the scores level on 50 minutes.
Lacking pace and looking quickly out of breath, Totti’s vision and pinpoint passing to players in better positions helped make amends, all to no avail.
On 54 minutes he curled in a delightful ball toward the back post, but Miralem Pjanic slid in just too late.
When Salah collected Totti’s through-ball toward the end of the half, he unleashed a long-range drive which brushed the bottom of Mirante’s upright.
Roma dominated a resolute Bologna throughout, but had to settle for just their third draw since Spalletti took over from Frenchman Rudi Garcia in February.
“We didn’t win tonight, but the lads played good football and Bologna did well to take a share of the spoils,” Spalletti told Rai.
The Roma coach got irked when it was suggested Totti had made a positive contribution.
Two months ago, a spat between the pair erupted after Totti claimed he should be playing more and deserved more respect by the club, prompting Spalletti to declare the club captain was “no better” than many other players at his disposal.
“It’s you who says it. I’ve always had Totti available and when I feel he can give me something then he plays, as happened tonight,” Spalletti said. “He strengthened the team and gave the fans a little boost.”
Juventus remain top and on course for a record-equaling fifth consecutive scudetto after a 2-1 win at AC Milan on Saturday maintained their six-point lead on second-placed SSC Napoli, who beat Hellas Verona 3-0 without Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuain, who sat out the first match of a three-game ban.
Roma remain in third place six points behind Napoli, and five and seven points ahead of Inter and ACF Fiorentina respectively.
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