Harrison, New Jersey, July 28: Bojan Krkic's goal in the 62nd minute gave Roma a 2-1 victory over El Salvador on Friday, completing an unbeaten three-game U.S. tour for the Serie A club.
The match was marred by three altercations, with the most serious coming in the 80th minute when Panagiotis Tachtsidis tangled with a Salvadoran defender, prompting the game's second shower of debris from the stands at Red Bull Arena. Tachtsidis was ejected and became enraged after being hit by what appeared to be a piece of fruit.
Three warnings about throwing objects from the stands were issued during the second half at Red Bull Arena, where fans of El Salvador outnumbered Roma supporters by about 5-to-1 in the crowd of 14,561.
Roma, which previously beat Polish club team Zaglebie Lubin 4-0 at Wrigley Field and the English Premier League's Liverpool 2-1 in Fenway Park, was the aggressor throughout, with Erik Manuel Lamela getting ejected for fighting in the first half, when Serie A's seventh-place finisher outshot the Salvadoran national team 14-2.
Pablo Daniel Osvaldo, an Italian national team call-up who scored 11 goals in 26 league appearances for Roma last season, put the Italian club ahead after just 36 seconds, taking a feed from near midfield, dribbling past defender Mardoqueo Henriquez down the right, finding just enough space to square up and put a low shot into the left corner past goalkeeper Dagoberto Portillo.
El Salvador had few first-half chances, but turned the heat up in the second half, pressuring the ball after Roma coach Zdenek Zeman made wholesale changes at halftime. Among those taken out were U.S. midfielder Michael Bradley, who is preparing for his first season with Roma, and Italy forward Francesco Totti.
Isidro Gutierrez equalized for El Salvador in the 49th minute.
Roma returns to Europe to prepare for its Serie A opener against Catania the weekend of Aug. 25-26.
Pablo Daniel Osvaldo put Roma ahead just 26 seconds into the game, and Isidro Gutierrez equalized for El Salvador in the 49th minute.
