UEL: Bologna vs Roma — 1-1 - Late Equaliser for Visitors

Roma holds Bologna to 1-1 draw in Europa League

AS Roma's Lorenzo Pellegrini scores late equaliser in 1-1 draw with Bologna in Europa League last-16 first leg.

Roma snatches 1-1 draw at Bologna in Europa League - Pellegrini scores late...

Roma's Lorenzo Pellegrini struck late to cancel out Federico Bernardeschi's goal, securing a 1-1 draw at Bologna.

The first half was messy, but Roma created a great chance through Bryan Zaragoza, who dragged wide from 18 yards. 

Bologna offered little in response, but Mile Svilar was called into action just two minutes before the break, as the Serbian stopper sharply dashed across his line to repel Bernardeschi's 25-yard strike.

However, the pattern of a slow-burning first period was thankfully not repeated after the restart, as Bologna burst into life on 49 minutes.

Jonathan Rowe's clever pass on the edge of Roma's penalty box freed up Federico Bernardeschi, who curled an unstoppable angled drive past Mile Svilar, giving Bologna the lead against Roma in the Europa League.

Roma pushed for the equaliser, with Malen's close-range effort narrowly missing.

Svilar made another great save to deny Pobega, but Pellegrini's late strike sealed it for Roma.

Captain Bryan Cristante forced an error from Joao Mario down the visitors' left flank, and his through ball allowed Malen to test Skorupski, but with the Bologna back line slow to react to the loose ball, Pellegrini calmly slotted home from 10 yards out. 

That shook up the game in the closing stages, and Malen came agonisingly close to pinching a smash-and-grab win on 76 minutes as his miscued toe poke was deflected on to the post by Jhon Lucumí before Bologna sub Charalampos Lykogiannis bulleted a header against Svilar’s crossbar on 90 minutes.

Pellegrini rescues a draw for Roma 💪#UEL pic.twitter.com/3CMzgEyfqo

— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) March 12, 2026

A draw for Bologna extends their unbeaten UEL run to 10 games, after losing out to Aston Villa in their league phase opener, and Vincenzo Italiano's team are also unbeaten in five home clashes with Roma across all competitions, ahead of a crunch second leg in Rome on March 19th.