If yesterday’s 3-1 victory over Cremonese had happened in Matchday 1 rather than Matchday 12, Roma fans would have been frothing at the mouth with visions of Gian Piero Gasperini’s attack overwhelming
the entire league and ending the club’s decades-long Scudetto drought in one fell, entertaining swoop.
But a funny thing happened over the past three months. While the product on the pitch hasn’t always left us salivating, Gasperini’s iron-clad defense has lifted Roma out of their mid-table malaise and into the thick of a genuine title chase. And now, with seven goals in their last three matches, the missing piece of the puzzle—the high-octane attack we expected in August—is finally coming into focus, allowing Roma fans to dream of celebrating at the Circo Massimo this spring.
In the wake of Roma’s most convincing performance of the season, today’s S&S will be all halos!
The Saints
Matías Soulé
We’ll kick things off with the man who opened the scoring yesterday—his 5th goal in all competitions this season. While this wasn’t the most dazzling performance we’ve seen from Soulé, his 84-minute run against Cremonese was further proof that he is unquestionably the center of this project. Whether he’s picking up the ball in the hole, working combination plays with the midfield, or taking the initiative himself, Soulé commands immediate attention from the defense.
And as we saw on this 17th-minute goal, he only needs an inch of space to find pay dirt. If the club can raise the level of talent around him, the sky’s the limit—for Soulé and Roma.
Wesley
Hey, speaking of talent, Wesley França delivered a Man of the Match performance against Cremonese on Sunday. Playing the entire 90 minutes, Wesley was buzzing up and down the left flank, applying pressure at both ends of the pitch. The 22-year-old wing-back had 52 touches yesterday, completed 50% of his dribbles, won 67% of his duels, provided one key pass, and finished the game with his second goal of the season, a clever chip over Emil Audero in the 69th minute.
After overcoming his early-season jitters, Wesley looks more confident and effective each week. Roma definitely made a good pick here.
Zeki Çelik
The Turkish defender continued his stellar 2025 with another dynamic performance as Roma’s third center-back. Once again, Çelik demonstrated his value in both attack and defense, taking two shots on goal and providing two key passes, including one big chance created. He also won eight of 15 duels and contributed seven defensive actions, including a key last-man tackle to prevent a goal.
Roma might want to hurry up with that contract extension.
Mile Svilar
What else can we say about Svilar? He’s simply one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Against Cremonese, he was up to his usual tricks, making crucial saves, controlling the 18-yard box, and organizing the defense in front of him. It’s a shame he lost the clean sheet in stoppage time, but how many points has he already saved for Roma?
Evan Ferguson
From injuries to missed opportunities to losing his starting spot, not much has gone right for Ferguson in Roma this season. After missing the past three weeks with an ankle injury, the Irish forward was healthy enough to make Gasperini’s bench yesterday—and let’s be thankful for that. While Soulé, Tommaso Baldanzi, and Lorenzo Pellegrini performed well enough in the first half, it was clear that Roma needed more balance in the attack in the second half.
While Ferguson only had one shot in his 30-minute cameo, he made the most of it, calmly slotting the ball past Audero despite being enveloped in a maelstrom of friends and foes trying to control a loose ball. Time will tell if this was the springboard he needed to make his mark in Serie A, but a healthy and functional Ferguson will increase Roma’s title chances immensely.
Stephan El Shaarawy
It’s been a while since we’ve discussed SES in these spaces, and while I’ve always had difficulty hiding my bias toward El Shaarawy, he played the role of super-sub to a T yesterday. Coming on for Pellegrini in the 60th minute, El Shaarawy took 22 touches, completed all but one pass attempt, contributed two key passes, and played a brilliant diagonal ball to set up Wesley’s goal.
If a healthy Ferguson can help Roma keep pace with Inter Milan and Napoli, imagine what having this version of SES could do for Roma in 2026? With the club unlikely to extend SES a new deal after this season, what better way for the Pharaoh to cap his 10-year run with Roma than by capturing the Scudetto?
We’ll end it here, but let’s give a quick mention to Bryan Cristante, Neil El Aynaoui, and Manu Koné, who each turned in solid to strong performances.
