A dream debut from the Giallorossi’s newest player, Donyell Malen, who was signed on loan from Aston Villa on Friday, and a second-half strike from Paulo Dybala propelled Roma to a decisive 2-0 win over Torino at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino. Just days after crashing out of the Coppa Italia to Torino, Roma tamed the Toros with a quick, decisive performance, giving the club a vital boost as they look to secure their top-four position.
With Evan Ndicka back from international duty and Lorenzo Pellegrini
from injury, Gasperini was suddenly flush with options as he sought retribution for last week’s 3-2 loss in the Coppa Italia Round of 16. Thanks to that added depth and the immediate inclusion of Malen in the starting lineup, Roma delivered one of their most Gasperini performances to date.
Roma’s tactical blueprint was predicated on rapid vertical transitions, using Malen’s pace to stretch Torino’s backline; a tactic sharpened by his instant chemistry with Paulo Dybala, who played a key role in Malen’s electric debut. With the two forwards causing havoc in the final third, it felt like only a matter of time before they broke the early deadlock. First, Malen set up a Dybala curler at the right post, only to see La Joya’s attempt curve just wide of the mark. Dybala seemingly returned the favor in the 23rd minute, springing Malen down the left channel. However, after a brilliant individual effort, Malen’s goal was chalked off by a marginal offside call.
But the postman rang twice for this duo:
Moments later, Malen opened the scoring with a clever right-footed strike, sneaking the ball under Alberto Paleari. But let’s not discount Dybala’s work here; he did well to drift away from the defense and play a perfect diagonal pass past several Torino defenders, finding Malen in an optimal position to convert the goal.
Following that goal, Roma took control of the match thanks to the reunited duo of Evan Ndicka and Gianluca Mancini, who limited the hosts to only eight shots on goal for the entire match and denied them any clear-cut opportunities. In fact, apart from a handful of feeble attempts from Cyril Ngonge and Gvidas Gineitis, Svilar had a pretty carefree day at the office.
On the ball, Roma flexed their might and negated Torino’s thanks to a subtle change in Dybala’s job description. Rather than limiting himself to the middle of the pitch, Dybala dropped slightly deeper into the middle third, acting as a bridge between the defense and Malen. That slightly deeper position enabled him to jump-start counterattacks, make late runs into the box, and generally ruin Torino’s defensive plan.
Shadow tactics aside, Dybala did enjoy a moment in the sun, forcing Paleari into an awkward save before sealing the match with a clever outside-of-the-boot effort, flicking Devyne Rensch’s low cross into the back of the net.
And that was all she wrote. Roma would cruise to an easy finish, but also find time to give Robinio Vaz his first look at like in Serie A in the 76th minute when he spelled Malen down the stretch.
Final Thoughts
Now, that’s more like it. In between the slew of gritty 1-0 wins this season, we’ve caught occasional glimpses of the sun; moments when it looked like Roma was living up to Gasperini’s standards (and reputation). However, those instances were few and far between and were often followed by long stretches of dull, predictable, and unsustainable football. And while they looked a bit sluggish at the start of the second half, there was never any doubt which side was winning this match; Roma was fast, fluid, and ferocious. Give Malen a few more weeks to familiarize himself with his new teammates, and 2-0 wins may become the norm.
For the first time in many months, Gasperini’s blueprint was clear. Brighter days are ahead, my friends.
Up Next
Roma returns to European play, hosting Stuttgart in the EL on Thursday
