Objectively speaking, escaping a hostile environment like the Diego Maradona with a point in hand is a decent day at the office. However, as with most things, context matters. In Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Napoli, Roma squandered an opportunity to solidify (ish) their grip on fourth place. A victory over Antonio Conte’s club would have given the Giallorossi a slim three-point lead over now fifth-place Juventus, which fell in controversial fashion to Inter Milan on Saturday. Instead of a tenuous three-point lead over the Old
Lady, Roma has a margin so thin it might as well not exist—one point.
Fortunately for Roma, they’ll have another six-pointer in two weeks when they host Juve at home. But for now, let’s revisit yesterday’s draw, pass out some halos, and sharpen our pitchforks.
The Sinners
The Second Half Subs
Between Matías Soulé, Lorenzo Venturino, Neil El Aynaoui, Kostas Tsimikas, and Robinio Vaz, Roma’s reinforcements left a lot to be desired on Sunday. While we can cut Soulé (injury) and perhaps El Aynaoui (lingering AFCON fatigue) some slack, apart from a few dribbles from Venturino, Gasperini’s bench added little of substance against Napoli, which received standout performances from their second-half subs, Alisson Santos and Giovane.
The Saints
Donyell Malen
This one is self-explanatory, right? Entering the fixture with three goals in his first four Roma matches, including a brace last week against Cagliari, the 27-year-old forward continued his assault on Serie A defenses with another two-goal performance. After capping off a picture-perfect counter-attack sequence in the 7th minute with a blink-and-you’d-miss-it redirection from a Bryan Zaragoza square ball, Malen doubled his pleasure from the spot in the second half.
Although Malen’s heroics didn’t yield three points, the Dutchman was Roma’s best player, putting two of three shots on target and recording his second brace in as many matches.
Zeki Çelik
The Turkish full-back continued to make his case for a new contract with another solid 90-minute performance. With seven clearances, seven recoveries, four tackles, one interception, and seven duels from seven attempts, Çelik was the sharpest defender on the pitch. He didn’t contribute much going forward—though he did play 16 balls into the final third—but he was reliable at the back. His will be one of the more interesting contract negotiations we’ve seen in several years: He’s never played this well, but is this his peak, or can he go higher and justify a three- or four-million-euro salary?
Stuck In Between
Lorenzo Pellegrini
Good old Larry Pilgrims wasn’t at his best yesterday, but he was arguably Roma’s most effective passer against Napoli, chipping in two key passes and completing two of five crosses. Add to that one successful dribble, and Pellegrini looked the part of a solid squad player.
Wesley
His performance was marred by a nasty knock to the ankle/foot, but the Brazilian was effective yesterday: three fouls drawn, including the would-be decisive penalty, three clearances, and one shot on goal. With Gasperini preferring to sit back, Wesley was never going to stuff the stat sheet, but he looked dangerous and kept the Napoli defense honest.
Bryan Zaragoza
Roma’s latest signing may still be settling into life in Serie A, but the former Bayern Munich man gave us a glimpse of his potential on Sunday. Zaragoza was the perfect connector between the midfield and Malen, using his pace and dribbling prowess to keep Napoli on their heels and set up Malen’s goal with a decisive square ball in the seventh minute. Adding Zaragoza to the mix gives Gasperini another crafty, aggressive outlet to funnel the ball toward Malen in the final third.
Until next time…
