Although yesterday’s 2-0 win didn’t ultimately give Roma sole possession of first place (thanks, Lazio), they beat a tough Udinese team and returned to their winning ways after dropping last weekend’s
fixture at the San Siro against AC Milan. When combined with Thursday’s win over Rangers in the Europa League, Gian Piero Gasperini’s group navigated two tricky fixtures while scoring multiple goals in consecutive games for only the second time this season.
While Roma’s attack still isn’t performing up to Gasperini’s usual high standards, the club managed to craft several impressive spells in both victories this week. And who knows, with a significant upgrade at the striker position this winter (fingers crossed), these two-nil wins might become commonplace.
Aside from a late barrage, Roma was seldom troubled by Udinese last night, so today’s S&S will be all halos. And we’re starting with the man at the back…
The Saints
Mile Svilar
After witnessing the likes of Robin Olsen, Pau Lopez, and Rui Patricio struggle to fill Alisson Becker’s shoes after his transfer to Liverpool in 2018, finding a competent goalkeeper, let alone one of the Brazilian Don Draper’s caliber, seemed like a pipe dream. Yet here we are, seven years later, and Roma has another world-class keeper minding the net at the Stadio Olimpico.
I’ll skip the stats on this one—this clip shows everything you need to see about Svilar’s brilliance yesterday. After Evan Ndicka turned the ball over, Svilar reacted in an instant to deny Nicolo Zaniolo a surefire goal.
Zeki Celik
Three days after missing one of the most egregious sitters you’ll ever see—he essentially missed a header on the goal line—Celik redeemed himself yesterday against Udinese. After starting a give-and-go with Mancini in the box, including a beautifully placed pass to begin the sequence, Celik finished it off with a delicately placed one-timer past Maduka Okoye’s outstretched leg.
Aside from his goal, Celik completed 41 of 43 passes, including one accurate long ball, while winning 50% of his duels and making one tackle. He was starting to seem a bit of a liability in the attacking third, so let’s hope this is the first of many Serie A goals for the Turkish defender/full-back.
Lorenzo Pellegrini
While the former captain didn’t match Celik’s heroics in the run of play, the 29-year-old Roman turned in an excellent overall performance in front of the home crowd: One goal (PK), one key pass, 3-5 on long balls, one block, one tackle, and three recoveries.
He’s come a long way since effectively being excommunicated from the squad back in August.
Bryan Cristante
Roma’s current captain continued his resurgence under Gasperini yesterday. In 90 minutes, Cristante took 69 touches, while completing 85% of his passes, including 8 of 13 long balls. On top of that, Cristante created three scoring chances, cleared one ball, made one tackle, and came an Udinese defender’s calf away from scoring a goal in the first half.
At 30 years old and with plenty of miles on his legs, it’s anyone’s guess what his future holds. Still, given how well he’s taken to life under Gasperini, would anyone be shocked if he got a new contract extension?
Gianluca Mancini
When Gasperini was hired in the summer, many predicted that players like Matías Soulé, Evan Ferguson, or Wesley would be the biggest beneficiaries of Gasp’s teachings. And while many players have improved under the 67-year-old Torino-native’s guidance, Mancini—a defender—has arguably experienced the most considerable boost from Gasperini.
In addition to his usual stout defending yesterday, Mancini made a well-timed run into the box and an even better return pass on Celik’s goal, proving yet again that he’s so much more than an enforcer and collector of head wounds.
Manu Koné
I know many of our readers go glassy-eyed when I layer in too many statistics in these pieces, so we’ll keep this particular halo entirely subjective. If his constant rattling of Zaniolo’s cage didn’t clue you in, let me state the obvious: Koné was a menace last night. From getting inside The Kid’s head to chasing down attackers, closing out space, and moving the ball up the pitch, Koné was everything, everywhere, all at once.
And one more before we hit the road…
Wesley
Similar to Koné, stats won’t tell the entire picture for Wesley last night. Although he scored on his debut back in August, Wesley went through his fair share of ups and downs as summer gave way to fall, at times looking almost too excited to be playing in Europe. However, over the past few months, the 22-year-old Brazilian has settled down, seemingly learning how to harness his inner squirrel—using his twitchiness, pace, and agility more judiciously and effectively.
And yesterday was no exception—when he had it in his mind to race down the wing, fire in a cross, or overtake multiple defenders with one well-placed long ball, there was no stopping him.
That’s it for now, but S&S will return after the international break when Roma faces Jaime Vardy and Cremonese on the 23rd.
