Roma Buries Benevento Thanks to Dzeko Brace, Pair of Own Goals

I’m not quite sure how the Serie A schedule makers expect us in the Western Hemisphere to keep up with the club when they have kickoffs at high noon on a weekday, so full disclosure, I didn’t catch one second of this match. Naturally, then, I can’t give a thoughtful analysis of the ins and outs of this match, but suffice it to say, a four-nil victory sort of writes its own recap.

So, rather than me attempting to b.s. by way through a review, let’s just take a look at the goals, shall we?

Edin Dzeko: 22nd Minute

It’s amazing how easy build up play seems when the opponents don’t even try to intercept the ball or even interrupt your movement. From back to front, Roma advanced the ball up the pitch virtually unfettered, with Aleksandar Kolarov’s shoulder barge before serving up the assist serving as the only spot of bother from the Benevento defense. From there, it was a simple tap-in from Edin Dzeko.

Fabio Lucioni: 35th Minute Own Goal

This was almost a carbon copy of the first goal, simply flipped around to the other side of the pitch, only in this instance, Lucioni beat Dzeko to the ball, but nice movement and spatial awareness from Dzeko there; it really is hard to believe this was the same dude who couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn two years ago.

Edin Dzeko: 52nd Minute

Dzeko took his own initiative here, unfurling a nice little curling shot from the edge of the 18-yard-box, but once again notice the complete and utter lack of defensive resistance here. If you’re a Benevento fan for some reason, don’t get too accustomed to having a rooting interest in Serie A matches, they won’t be here for long.

Lorenzo Venuti: 74th Minute Own Goal

This may have been an own goal, but check out that sick move from Dzeko! With a quick jab step, Dzeko completely shook the Benevento defender out of his boots and slipped right behind him to force Benevento’s hand into committing this error. Dzeko appears like a lumbering beast at times, but he’s a surprisingly gifted athlete.

Conclusions

Even without seeing this match, you can tell simply from those clips what Roma’s modus operandi was; get the ball out wide, using their advantage in skill and athleticism to stretch the Wizards defense, and then pump it into Dzeko. And fortunately for EDF, it seems as though Dzeko has gotten over his week two blues and picked up right where he left off last season. He may not keep pace with Paulo Dybala this season, but Dzeko seems a lock for a 20-25 goal season.

However, if we had to issue a caveat against Verona, increase the font size and highlight that shit after this match. Benevento is barely a professional football club at this point. In four matches they’ve scored one goal while allowing 14, two of which they scored themselves tonight. But once again, the true value of a match like this is building momentum.

While they should be able to weather the rest of this month—home against Udinese and away to Qarabag—October is absolutely littered with landmines, so whatever esprit de corps they can develop now will go a long way towards helping them slog through that hellacious stretch of matches.

So that’s it for now, Roma welcomes the Zebras to the Olimpico on Saturday.