While the Old Lady up north didn’t do Roma any favors on the table this time around, Roma nevertheless managed to secure a tidy three points by defeating Roma Juniors, a/k/a Sassuolo, 3-1 thanks to two goals from the suddenly rejuvenated Edin Dzeko, whose domestic tally now stands at a league leading 10 goals. Thanks to Dzeko’s heroics, Roma at least managed to push the distance between themselves and third place Milan, who, in the span of a week, went from Italy’s goldenchild to a virtual laughingstock. {Correction, Milan has fallen to fourth behind Napoli}
As is often the case with midweek matches, this review will be regrettably terse. So with that in mind, let’s take a quick gander at the goals.
While Radja Nainggolan’s screamer in the first half nearly opened Roma’s account, the Giallorossi needed Dzeko to rise to the occasion once more.
Edin Dzeko: 57th Minute
Once again, nothing terribly fancy about this one. Mohamed Salah showed some decent strength holding off the defender before splitting the final two with a lovely ball to Dzeko, who timed his run perfectly before gently slotting it past the keeper at the far post. What else can you say about Dzeko? He’s a completely different player.
But he wasn’t done yet...
Edin Dzeko: 76th Minute
After drawing the penalty, Dzeko capped it off by blasting this PK into the upper left hand corner to give Roma the lead. Seriously, can you imagine this situation a year ago? Dzeko stepping up to the spot with two points on the line? Yikes.
Roma would tack on one more when Radja Nainggolan seized upon a loose ball/rebound.
Radja Nainggolan: 78th Minute
A lovely little interplay between Dzeko and Stephan El Shaarawy nearly created another goal for SES, who had three goals in his previous two matches. While El Shaarawy couldn’t quite beat the keeper, his shot was powerful enough to force an awkward perry from the keeper, which fortunately fell right to Radja, but what a run from El Shaarawy; the chemistry he’s developed with Dzeko is keeping Diego Perotti firmly planted on the bench.
While this win was all well and good, it just wouldn’t be Roma if a gray cloud didn’t cast a pall on everything.
If there’s one thing Roma fans know, it’s torn ACLs, and that, my friends, is more than likely the club’s third of the season, following Antonio Rüdiger (who actually came back today) and Mario Rui. If this is indeed the case, expect Alessandro Florenzi to remain shelved until at least April, leaving us with a fullback pairing of Emerson and Juan Jesus until Bruno Peres returns....gulp.
Despite the bad news at the end, Roma holds a two point advantage over third place Napoli and trails first place Juventus by that same margin. Things are tight, my friends; Roma jumps back into the fray Sunday when they travel to Empoli.