SAN DIEGO, CA — For a split second, it looked like AS Roma was going to establish itself as the clear-cut better team…until they didn’t.
Tottenham Hotspur FC came out of the gate as hot as the San Diego heatwave, scoring four first-half goals en route to a 4-1 victory over AS Roma in the International Champions Cup on Wednesday night.
In their first matches of the tournament, both AS Roma and Tottenham looked to get an early edge in the standings. And in the beginning, AS Roma showed the most fight. Two minutes in, forward Patrik Schick took an assist from defender Javier Pastore to score the game’s first goal.
But at the 8′ mark, Tottenham managed to tie the game on an easy goal by forward Fernando Javier Llorente Torres. Torres wasn’t done yet, however; at the 18′ mark, Torres captured a header and bumped it past Roma goalkeeper Antonio Mirante to give Tottenham a 2-1 lead.
The floodgates opened from there.
At the 28′ mark, midfielder Lucas Moura scored the first of his two goals in the match, sending the fans into a frenzy. Sixteen minutes later, Moura snuck through three defenders to squeeze in the game’s final goal, putting Tottenham on top 4-1.
In the second half, Roma threw everything they had at Tottenham to throw off their game; substitutions, more ball movement, etc. but it didn’t do them much good. Despite leading in almost every category, Roma wasn’t able to mount a comeback and left the field hanging their heads.
Roma coach Eusebio Di Francesco talked after the game about how disappointed he was in the team’s overall performance.
“The first half, we were not confident enough, not organized enough from the pitch,” Di Francesco said through the team’s interpreter. “Then in the second half, we took too many aimless shots…we conceded too much.”
Tottenham (1-0) will go on to face FC Barcelona at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Saturday, July 28. AS Roma will have a few days to sort out their issues, as they play against FC Barcelona at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Tuesday, July 31.
