Serie A | Pisa 0-1 Roma: Soulé Inspired by Dybala to Victory

Matias Soulé capitalized on a play initiated by substitute Paulo Dybala, securing a narrow victory for Roma against a resilient Pisa side in a hard-fought Serie A encounter.

Roma, also known as the Giallorossi, played without Leon Bailey, and key players Paulo Dybala and Lorenzo Pellegrini were not at full fitness following their previous 1-0 win against Bologna. Pisa marked a historic occasion, hosting their first Serie A home game in over three decades. Despite the excitement, Pisa faced challenges with several players – Daniel Denoon, Alexander Lind, Isak Vural, Tomas Esteves, and Francesco Coppola – sidelined. New signing Calvin Stengs, recently acquired from Feyenoord, began the match on the bench.

Pisa had a significant chance in the 8th minute when Idrissa Touré delivered a cross from the right wing, finding Henrik Meister whose header was narrowly saved by Mile Svilar, who then quickly recovered to stop the ball from crossing the goal line. Shortly after, Michel Aebischer set up Meister on a counter-attack, whose angled shot just grazed the far post.

Adrian Semper was alert to save Matias Soulé`s free-kick aimed at the top corner, highlighting Roma`s difficulty in generating clear-cut scoring chances.

Paulo Dybala entered the game for the second half, and soon after, Soulé unleashed a left-footed curling shot from the edge of the box that narrowly missed the top corner. While Welsey appeared to go down easily under pressure from Lusuardi, Roma eventually broke the deadlock through a well-coordinated attack involving their front three. Dybala cut in from the left, passed to Ferguson who, with his back to goal, laid the ball off for Soulé. Soulé then struck it first-time from 12 yards, finding the net through a crowded defense.

Soulé found the net once more in the 61st minute. His header deflected off a defender, and he swiftly scored the rebound, but the goal was disallowed due to a handball.

Aebischer won a tackle in midfield and his powerful shot flew just over the bar. Later, he had another attempt, firing wide following a counter-attack led by M’Bala Nzola. Calvin Stengs made his Serie A debut late in the game, but he was unable to capitalize on a Meister back-heel pass and subsequently shot directly at Svilar.

Roma nearly doubled their lead in the 90th minute when Manu Koné made a powerful run from midfield, setting up what seemed like an easy tap-in for Artem Dovbyk, but Adrian Semper produced a crucial point-blank save to deny him.