Real Madrid Score Three in Seven Minutes to Beat Roma 4-3 From 3-1 Down
Real Madrid scored three goals in the last seven minutes to beat Roma 4-3 at the Stadio Olimpico on Wednesday, October 14, in matchday 2 of the Champions League. Madrid were trailing 3-1 when the late recovery began, and all three goals came from corners.
Roma started brightly in front of their home crowd. Matías Soulé curled wide after just 48 seconds, and Courtois had to tip away a curling effort from Mario Hermoso in the fifth minute. Roma went ahead through Marten de Roon, but Kylian Mbappé equalised in the 25th minute. Marc Cucurella then went close for Madrid in the 31st minute, but his low shot flashed just wide of the post.
Early in the second half, the game seemed to be slipping away from Madrid. Donyell Malen scored twice in the space of six minutes to put Roma 3-1 ahead, and the hosts looked in full control. Mbappé had a goal disallowed after the hour mark, and Roma held on to their lead for a long time.
Madrid's comeback started in the 83rd minute. Carlos Espi scored from a corner scramble to cut the deficit to 3-2. Two minutes later, Endrick headed in unchallenged from an Arda Güler corner to make it 3-3. In the 90th minute, former Roma defender Antonio Rüdiger volleyed the winner past Gollini, again from a corner. The three goals came in about seven minutes. One stats site describes it as the fastest away comeback in Champions League history, at 7 minutes 43 seconds.
It was a landmark night for Mbappé, who became the youngest player to make 100 Champions League appearances at 27. His goal was his 72nd in the competition, which moved him into sole possession of fifth place on the all-time list, ahead of Raúl. He is the eighth player to score on his 100th Champions League appearance, and the third while playing for Madrid, after Cristiano Ronaldo in 2014 and Toni Kroos in 2019.
It was also a special evening for Madrid coach José Mourinho, who returned to Roma, where he won the Conference League and reached a Europa League final in two and a half years in charge. Madrid now have six points from their first two league-phase games and are eighth in the table, while Roma are 25th with one point. The seven goals in Rome helped make this the highest-scoring Champions League matchday in history, with 78 goals in 18 games, according to one report.