Roma entered today’s fixture sporting the best defensive record in Serie A and in the middle of a five-team race for the top spot. By any objective standard, Gian Piero Gasperini’s group was riding high.
Even their dormant offense had shown signs of progress recently, stacking up a pair of two-nil wins before the international break.
However, coming out of the break with an away trip against Cremonese, where they lost 2-1 during their last visit to the Stadio Zini in 2023, Roma was facing a deceptively tricky fixture this afternoon. And with injuries to key players like Paulo Dybala, Artem Dovbyk, and Mario Heromoso, who sustained a late-week foot injury, the Giallorossi had their hands full today in Lombardy.
With Hermoso out, Gasperini plugged 20-year-old Jan Ziolkowski into the backline while combining Tommaso Baldanzi, Matías Soulé, and Lorenzo Pellegrini in attack. The rest of Gasperini’s lineup was business as usual: Svilar in goal, Wesley, Celik, Mancini, Ndicka in defense, and Manu Koné and Bryan Cristante controlling the midfield.
After a slow start to the match, where the two clubs looked evenly matched, Roma gradually increased the intensity, with Soulé and Baldanzi finding and creating space in the final third. However, despite ramping up the pressure, Cremonese had the first scoring opportunity of the game, with Federico Bonazzoli breaking free in the final third. But what seemed like a gimme goal was snuffed out in short order by a clever kick save from Svilar.
Not ones to tempt fate any further, Roma drew first blood five minutes later.
After receiving the ball at the point of the 18-yard box (which is apparently called the penalty arc), Soulé drifted to his left before dropping the ball inside the near post, just past a diving Emil Audero.
With the opening goal secured, Roma added another in the 26th minute when Lorenzo Pellegrini took advantage of a poorly parried Audero save, poking the ball into the back of the net to increase Roma’s lead. However, after a quick VAR review, Roma’s former captain was judged offside (just barely), and the goal was correctly disallowed.
Cremonese nearly equalized the match a few minutes later when Jari Vandeputte pulled Svilar off his line in the 30th minute. While Svilar made the initial save, the ball rolled up his thigh, continued up his torso, then bounced off the crossbar, leaving a rebound for Cremonese to score. However, thanks to a clearance from Celik, Roma’s lead was kept intact.
While Roma has demonstrated the ability to defend a one-nil lead, they left nothing to chance in the second half. With a flurry of attacking substitutions within the first 15 minutes–Neil El Aynaoui, Evan Ferguson, and Stephan El Shaarawy all came on by the 60th minute–Gasperini sought to make a statement in the second half, even as he was sent off shortly after these changes for arguing a free kick.
With their manager now watching from the stands, the capital club put on a show in the second half, running roughshod over the Cremonese defense, scoring two goals, having another disallowed for offside, and missing a third.
In the 62nd minute, Evan Ferguson finally got off the schneid, scoring his first goal for the club, wrapping up a chaotic sequence in the box with a cool finish at the far post. You could almost sense the relief as he casually celebrated his first goal for his new team.
But Roma saved the best for last, scoring a quintessential Gasperini goal in the 69th minute.
Credit to Wesley for deftly chipping it over Audero, but the seed this goal was sewn by Stephan El Shaarawy, who provided an outlet for Mancini at the back before essentially working a two-man weave with Evan Ferguson. It looked like it was torn straight from an NBA highlight reel in the 1950s—El Shaarawy settled the ball, passed it to Ferguson, and immediately wheeled behind him before threading a diagonal ball through the defense to Wesley, who had acres of space to finish the play.
And that was that. Although Cremonese spoiled the clean sheet in stoppage time, this was a thoroughly dominant performance from Roma; one that bodes well for an entertaining and successful conclusion to 2025.
Final Thoughts
Now, this was the Roma we had been waiting for since August. While they endured another slow start, from the 15th minute onward, Gasperini’s group dominated their opponents, overwhelming Cremonese with pressing, passing, and off-the-ball movement. Roma played with skill, speed, and fluidity; I’m not sure any team in Serie A could have stopped them this afternoon.
Thanks to today’s win, Roma will finish Round 12 at worst tied for first. But if Inter drops points against Milan later today, the Giallorossi will enter a crucial Round 13 matchup against Napoli in sole possession of first place.
Wesley goal: great two touch move to set it up from the midfield, splitting pass through the middle from SES, Wes slips one in, slow roller over the line
Up Next
Roma hosts FC Midtjylland in the Europa League on Thursday
