A chilly January evening in the capital resulted in the Giallorossi rebuilding their momentum with a 2-0 win over Sassuolo. It’s a win that was both expected and essential for their hopes of Champions League qualification, as Roma followed up their mid-week victory over Lecce with a composed performance at the Stadio Olimpico (even if it was a performance that took a while to catch fire).
The match started out in disappointing fashion, with Roma attempting to play well but only doing so in fits and
starts, creating pressure instead of results. The Giallorossi dominated possession from the word go, but struggled to translate it into genuine danger. Meanwhile, Sassuolo played the part of the minnow and were happy to sit deep, absorb pressure, and look for moments in transition. A first half injury to Evan Ferugson further disrupted Roma’s attacking rhythm and threatened to drain what little sharpness they had found.
And yet, when the second half rolled around, Roma emerged from the break with greater urgency, circulating the ball faster, pushing their fullbacks higher, and committing more bodies into the box. The pressure began to feel less like control and more like suffocation. The breakthrough that felt like it was coming for the entire second half finally arrived in the 76th minute.
Zeki Çelik drove forward on the right, forcing Sassuolo backward before slipping the ball to Soulé. The Argentine winger then lifted a delicate cross into the heart of the area, where Manu Koné ghosted into space and powered a header past Muric. It was a simple goal, but an essential one, not only breaking the deadlock but showing that Koné actually does have shooting boots every now and then.
It may have taken some time for the Giallorossi to get ahead, but it didn’t take them long to end this one. Three minutes later, Roma put the match on ice thanks to a beautiful piece of play from Zeki Çelik, who passed to El Shaarawy, who added a clever backheel to Soulé, allowing him to finish the sequence with the calm of a player fully in control of the moment. Ninety seconds had transformed frustration into certainty.
From there, Roma played with freedom and a style that suggested Gasperini’s champage football was just waiting to explode onto the scene. El Shaarawy had a goal disallowed for offside, Koné nearly added another, and Sassuolo finally looked spent. The Olimpico relaxed into itself, the tension dissolving into quiet confidence.
Takeaways
With this result, Roma stay firmly embedded in the Champions League race, and while the clubs ahead of them have a few games in hand, Gasperini and the Giallorossi are very much in control of their own destiny. There are harder tests ahead, and sterner opponents waiting. Still, it’s a huge relief that Roma bent this one to their will and got the three points. The tactical structure held despite Ferguson leaving in the first half, and the breakthrough felt entirely deserved—as did the second goal (what a beauty, seriously).
Today’s player of the match deserves a special shout here as well, because Matias Soulé is becoming more and more the fulcrum of this side offensively. The Argentine youngster now has 6 goals and 4 assists on the season, making him one of only two players born in 2003 or later to have been involved in at least 10 goals in each of the last three seasons across Europe’s Big Five leagues (alongside Barcelona’s Yamine Lamal, which is pretty great company for him if you ask me). He’s showing consistency now, which is the last thing separating him from superstardom.
More broadly, it’s critical that Roma managed this match in the manner that a big club should. They didn’t panic when their possession dominance didn’t produce goals within the first fifteen minutes of play, and they didn’t loosen their grip once they did score. They waited, they struck, and they suffocated. This has admittedly been a volatile season for the Giallorossi, and one where offensive firepower has sometimes been hard to come by. Matches like these suggest that a steadier identity is developing—the kind of identity that could mean a return to the Champions League for the first time in nearly a decade.
Up Next
Another midweek match as Roma hosts Torino on the 13th
