No Totti, No Party

The 38-year-old became the oldest Champions League goalscorer in history as the Giallorossi outplayed Manchester City for long spells in England

They came with the tag of underdogs in the tussle for Group E progression. They saw Sergio Aguero give Manchester City a lead before the crowd had
even settled. And Roma so very nearly conquered the Premier League champions.

It was almost the most effective Roman conquest of Britain since the first century AD.

Led by the same heroic emperor who had taken them into battle across Europe so many times before in Francesco Totti, the Giallorossi’s first trip to foreign shores in the Champions League for four years may very well end up being a story of ‘What if?’ when it is committed to record.

The veteran skipper was majestic in his 72 minutes on the field, scoring one and delivering countless passes from which Roma could easily have done more. Rudi Garcia sent his side out to do exactly what they have been doing across the peninsula this season and they came within a whisker of collecting a seventh straight win.

And all this despite a nightmare start.

Douglas Maicon somehow thought it a good idea to tug back Aguero as the Argentine diverted away to reach a chipped pass into the centre of the box in only the fourth minute. It was an easy penalty decision, and the Brazilian was perhaps lucky not to mark his return to the Etihad Stadium with a speedy red card.

Although Aguero got up to slot home the spot-kick, Roma did not let it affect their game one bit and proceeded to dominate the game in much the same way they would have looked to do had they not gone a goal down.

Their midfield three of Miralem Pjanic, Radja Nainggolan and Seydou Keita hardly gave City a look-in, starving the home side of possession and moving the ball with a fluidity which left their opponents chasing throughout.

And the Giallorossi got the just reward for their endeavours midway through the first half, with Totti latching onto a perfect pass from Nainggolan and lifting the ball over the advancing Joe Hart into the far corner.

It made the iconic skipper the oldest ever goalscorer in the history of European club competitions at 38 years and three days, but more importantly it gave the scoreline a much fairer reflection of the game.

Roma could and probably should have had more. Both Gervinho and Alessandro Florenzi lost sight of lofted passes into the box at crucial moments, while Pjanic bombed two decent sights of goal. Even before Totti’s goal, Maicon had thundered an effort off the bar after ghosting in behind Gael Clichy.

While City eventually racked up more attempts towards goal, Hart was kept far busier than Champions League debutant Lukasz Skorupski at the opposite end.

Two games in, Roma are three points and five goals better off than a City side who most were expecting to progress at their expense. That by no means puts them in the driving seat, especially since the English champions have two clashes with bottom side CSKA Moscow while the Giallorossi take on Bayern Munich twice.

But what it does do is give them the knowledge that they are right in with a fight. They gave Pellegrini one hell of a scare and, while City will have seen this as two points dropped before the kick-off, it is Rudi Garcia who could also be left looking back at Tuesday evening and lamenting the win that got away.