For a brief moment in mid-November, it seemed like Gian Piero Gasperini had finally cracked the code that had been holding back Roma’s attack. Admittedly, the Giallorossi weren’t taking the league by storm like Gasp’s Atalanta teams, but after netting nine goals in four matches, it looked like the club had turned a corner.
But instead of bringing Roma to Central Park West, that corner led to Skid Row, where goals are hard to come by. After another disappointing attacking effort, Roma fans are left
looking for answers after Sunday’s 1-0 defeat to 15th-place Cagliari—the Islander’s first victory since late September.
As disappointing as yesterday’s outing was, Roma remains in decent, though fragile, shape: 4th place, four points behind league-leading Napoli but only four points ahead of 7th-place Juventus.
Roma never makes things easy, do they? But, after such a dreary performance, at least today’s S&S decisions were straightforward.
The Sinners
Zeki Çelik
After a red card-tinged performance, those stories linking the 28-year-old Turkish full-back to some of the biggest clubs in Europe seem like a fever dream. While Çelik has been among the club’s most consistent performers in 2025, there’s no sense couching our words: He was awful yesterday.
While VAR saved the club from an immediate demise via a penalty kick, Çelik’s straight red card condemned Roma to death by a thousand cuts, putting the team at a disadvantage for nearly the entire second half. And who knows, if Çelik had been on the pitch late in the game, perhaps the club wouldn’t have conceded Gianluca Gaetano’s 82nd-minute match-winner.
Gianluca Mancini
As the de facto leader of Roma’s defense, Mancini receives more praise when things go well and more criticism when they don’t. But there was no disguising it: Mancini, like most of the men in white and green yesterday, wasn’t up to par. From failing to contain Sebastiano Esposito and Michael Folorunsho in the final third to his unusually careless passing, Mancini delivered one of his worst performances of the season yesterday.
Daniele Ghilardi
Every time this kid steps onto the pitch, I think to myself, “Oh, I forgot we signed him!” Hyperbole aside, Ghilardi remains an interesting prospect and, along with Jan Ziolkowski, the future of Roma’s defense. However, he looked raw and unrefined during his brief cameo against Cagliari, reaching his lowest point on Gaetano’s match-winner, where his attempt at covering the back post at least met the legal definition of defending.
Evan Ferguson
I’m not sure there’s enough meat on the bone to construct a proper paragraph on the Irishman’s performance yesterday–-and maybe that says it all. In his defense, the attack was struggling across the board and did him few favors, but Ferguson only managed one touch in the 18-yard box and lost possession six times in just 16 touches. I still hope he can succeed with Roma, but the past couple of months have been a tough pill to swallow for Ferguson fans.
The Saints
Mile Svilar
Even on the darkest days, Roma can always rely on Mile Svilar, who is one of the few players in Gasperini’s usual XI that could start for a real title contender. There wasn’t much Mile could do to stop Gaetano’s goal, but with eight saves, including four in the box, Svilar was performing his usual magic yesterday, preventing an additional 0.52 goals thanks to his work in goal.
Annnd, that’s it for the halos, but let’s shout out a few solid performances from an otherwise ugly match.
Stuck In Between
Matías Soulé
Roma’s only bright spot in attack, Soulé had 32 touches, provided three key passes, completed one of two crosses, and won six of eleven duels. It’s hard not to think how much more effective he’d be with better talent around him in the final third. As it stands, matches like these are quickly becoming the minimum expectation for the talented 22-year-old.
Mario Hermoso
He deserves praise alone for getting Cagliari’s hackles up late in the second half, but the Spanish center-back was pretty crisp on Sunday: 85% passing accuracy, 67% duel success rate, four defensive actions, and four accurate long balls.
Manu Koné
After a brief lull in late October and early November, Koné is once again making his mark in Roma’s midfield. In 90+ minutes, Koné completed 91% of his passes, 80% of his long passes, recorded five defensive actions, and led the Giallorossi with seven duels won.
That’s it for now, but let’s hope for a better (or at least passable) performance in a critical European match against Celtic on Thursday.
