At the risk of beating a dead horse, Roma fans have grown wary of matches like yesterday’s victory over Cremonese, fixtures where outside results have fallen in the club’s favor, giving the Giallorossi an opportunity to climb the table. In this instance, with 5th-place Juventus and 3rd-place Napoli each suffering defeats earlier in the weekend, Roma not only had the chance to pad their lead over Juve but could wake up Monday in third place, four points ahead of Juventus, ahead of their clash at the Olimpico
next weekend.
Fortunately, unlike so many disappointing weekends before, Roma prevailed over lowly Cremonese, overcoming a slow first half to win 3-0 in front of 60,000 of their closest friends. Given the ease with which they won and the lack of any glaring errors, today’s Sinners & Saints will skew entirely toward the positive!
The Saints
Bryan Cristante
Always the goat, seldom the hero, Cristante delivered arguably his best performance of the season. Starting alongside Manu Koné and Lorenzo Pellegrini in midfield, Cristante overcame his presumed sadness over Canada’s loss in the Gold Medal game with a dynamic 90-minute run against Cremonese: three key passes, 15 passes into the final third, five tackles, four recoveries, one assist, and, of course, the match-winning goal, a perfectly executed header at the near post off a Pellegrini corner.
Cristante will always have his detractors, but at least for one night, he was unquestionably the best player on the pitch.
Evan Ndicka
Not far behind Cristante in the post-match pecking order, Ndicka brought his usual class to the backline, limiting Cremonese to a pitiful two shots on goal while adding five clearances and three ball recoveries to his defensive ledger. While we’ve come to expect those defensive performances from Ndicka, the Ivorian international was surprisingly busy in attack, firing four shots on goal, including a crucial 77th-minute goal, his first league goal of the season.
Gianluca Mancini
If we shine light on Ndicka for smothering Cremonese’s attack, it’s only right to share the spotlight with Mancini. Not only did Roma’s masked man lead the club with eight defensive actions and play seven balls into the final third, but he also managed to avoid a yellow card! With nine of those bad boys already in his back pocket heading into this match, any transgression on Sunday would have meant Mancini would miss next week’s six-pointer against Juventus.
Lorenzo Pellegrini
I’m sure this will be a semi-controversial selection, but while Pellegrini didn’t necessarily turn in a standout performance, he served up the match-winning assist thanks to a well-placed corner kick that met Cristante’s head just as he started to peel away from the near post. Sure, Roma would tack on two additional goals, but let’s appreciate the context of this assist: it was preceded by 59 mostly frustrating misses in which Roma reeled off a dozen shots with nothing to show for it.
All told, Pellegrini created three chances while completing two of three long balls.
Stuck In Between
Lorenzo Venturino
The other Lorenzo didn’t factor in the box score, but the young midfielder wasted little time terrorizing the Cremonese backline. In only 34 minutes, Venturino created three scoring chances and hit on 11 of 12 passes. It may not have been a wow performance, but it did provide a glimpse into the future: Venturino already looks like the ideal pesky, creative winger that any attacking side craves, especially one as fluid as Gasperini’s.
Manu Koné
The only negative thing we can say about Koné is this: he doesn’t have a nose for goal. If he ever develops a better long-range shot and can convert those late runs into the box, he’ll probably be bound for PSG, so we’ll count our blessings for now. Outside of skying a few attempts high and wide, Koné completed 89% of his passes, created two scoring chances, and recovered six balls.
Niccolo Pisilli
Relegated to the bench with Koné’s return to the lineup, the local kid still managed to make his mark against Cremonese, breaking the visitors back with an 86th-minute goal. In his 18-minute cameo, the young Roman recovered to balls, played three passes into the final third and managed two shots on goal.
