Roma struggled to generate much in a quiet opening half of the new campaign, seeming somewhat unprepared on the offensive end of the pitch for their first full season under Daniele De Rossi. When Razvan Marin tried to test Mile Svilar from 25 yards out around the forty-minute mark, the game appeared to be opening up, but the Romanian's shot was parried away for safety.
Roma rapidly had the upper hand, but Artem Dovbyk, the La Liga 'Pichichi' champion from the previous season, was unable to capitalize on Nicola Zalewski's dinked pass. Five minutes later, Roberto Piccoli rushed toward goal after Mehmet Zeki Celik gave him the ball, but Svilar appeared to have covered it as his effort sailed wide of the post. The visitors came out with fresh excitement after the interval, so there must have been a De Rossi rocket.