FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Europa League - Semi Final - First Leg - AS Roma v Bayer Leverkusen - Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy - May 11, 2023 AS Roma coach Jose Mourinho REUTERS/Alberto Lingria
(Reuters) -AS Roma were held to a goalless draw at mid-table Bologna on Sunday, extending their winless run in Serie A to five games, as Jose Mourinho rotated his side ahead of their Europa League semi-final second leg.
Roma were ultimately unable to take advantage of the poor performances over the weekend of those around them in the table and remain sixth on 59 points, one point clear of Atalanta in seventh and two behind AC Milan in fifth.
Mourinho opted to go into energy-saving mode ahead of his side's trip to Bayer Leverkusen on Thursday, with Roma a goal ahead in the tie, and left striker Paulo Dybala and keeper Rui Patricio out of the squad.
Mile Svilar was making his Serie A debut in goal and was called into action early when Bologna winger Riccardo Orsolini's shot from distance was heading towards the roof of the net but the stand-in keeper did well to keep it out.
The visitors gifted Bologna around 70% of the possession throughout the game, which resulted in the hosts often coming high up the field and Roma seeking chances to catch them on the break.
Striker Andrea Belotti and midfielder Nicola Zalewski went closest to giving Roma the lead before halftime while forward Tammy Abraham threatened Bologna keeper Lukasz Skorupski minutes from fulltime.
Roma's changed starting lineup had an average age of 25 years and 34 days, and was the youngest starting 11 fielded by Mourinho in his Serie A career.
They next host Salernitana on May 22 while Bologna, 11th on 47 points, travel to second-bottom Cremonese on Saturday.
A heavily-rotated Napoli fell to a 2-0 loss at Monza earlier on Sunday after forward Dany Mota opened the scoring for the hosts in the 18th minute and Andrea Petagna sealed their win over the newly-crowned champions early in the second half.
(Reporting by Anita Kobylinska in Gdansk; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Toby Davis)
