We’ve definitely been too liberal with our use of the phrase “must-win” in these spaces this season, but with such thin margins between victory and defeat (and, consequently, between the Champions League and Europa League), Roma seldom had the luxury of brushing off a fixture. However, past hyperbole aside, there was no denying the importance of today’s fixture against Fiorentina—this was a must-win.
After seeing Juventus and Como drop points over the weekend, the stakes couldn’t have been any clearer
for the Giallorossi tonight: A victory would mean overtaking Como in the table and pulling within one point of fourth-place Juventus, while anything short of that would effectively kill Roma’s Champions League hopes once and for all.
Standing in their way was one of the hottest clubs in Serie A. Riding a seven-match unbeaten streak into the Stadio Olimpico today, Fiorentina pulled their feet out of the relegation fire over the past two months and would have loved nothing more than to rain on Roma’s parade. While Fiorentina may lack star power, thanks to our collective calcio trauma, they might as well have been Barcelona at the height of the MSN days.
However, once the ball got rolling, it became clear: Roma wasn’t messing around. Rather than succumbing to fate, the capital club left nothing to chance. After the usual feeling-out period in the first few minutes of the match, Roma didn’t take long to flex her muscles, hitting Fiorentina with blow after blow in a four-nil romp.
First, there was an exquisitely taken setpiece that saw Niccolo Pisilli pick out Gianluca Mancini at the near post, who whipped the ball past David De Gea in the 13th minute. Roma followed that up with an incredible five-touch move that was capped off by a wonderfully struck ball from Wesley, who buried the ball in the far corner to double Roma’s lead in the 17th minute.
(We’ll post the full highlights as soon as they’re available)
Roma would tack on two more goals for good measure, a tap-in from Heromso, who converted on a square ball across the face of the goal from Manu Koné (which was preceded by a great run to the byline), and a Pisilli strike in the 58th minute for good measure.
Final Thoughts
Be honest, you weren’t expecting this, were you? While that one-point gap behind Juventus could ultimately doom Roma, today’s performances should give you faith that they will handle their end of the deal. If Roma plays like this, theres little chance Parma, Lazio or Verona are stopping them over the final three weeks of the season.
Up Next
Roma pays a visit to the Crusaders of Parma next Sunday.
