Pre-match
Both teams made weirdly parallel decisions, picking a newly-signed young foreigner in attack (Rodrigo Mora and Franco Mastantuono) and an unexpected fullback (Emanuele Lulli and Dodô). For Gian Piero Gasperini, that was the end of the surprises. Fabio Grosso, though, shifted João Mário to the left side and also started Mateo Pellegrino instead of Moise Kean, all but confirming the Italy international’s pending exit.
First half
After an early corner, Fiorentina spent most of the half deep in its own box, only
venturing out to give Roma a chance to counter. Paulo Dybala looked particularly dangerous with a couple of early shots, demonstrating his ability to find space all too easily. David de Gea made a marvelous save on Mora’s curler but was powerless after Dybala drove through 3 defenders and teed up Malen, who showcased some fancy feet before finishing from close range. Moments earlier, the Viola had put the ball into touch to kill off their own attack after Manu Koné went down but the Giallorossi kept going here despite Mario Hermoso catching Mastantuono in the face with an arm.
The Viola mounted nothing resembling a fight back as Roma continued to dominate territory and possession. Mastantuono and Pellegrino failed to spark anything going forward, with the former in particular losing the ball too easily. Atta was barely involved and Fagioli made too many mistakes. Basically, Roma brought the intensity in and out of possession and Fiorentina didn’t. It’s reductive to call it a game of individual matchups but it felt like the hosts were winning their battles and reaching every second ball while the visitors weren’t. Sometimes it’s that simple.
Second half
Fiorentina started well, getting up the pitch and at least asking a couple questions of Roma’s defense. Naturally, the Giallorossi struck shortly thereafter on the break. João Mário misjudged a high ball, allowing Dybala to settle it, pick his head up, and find Malen on the far side. The Dutchman lashed his finish high and to the near post; De Gea perhaps should’ve done better.
The Viola tried pushing numbers forward just as Gasperini would’ve wanted. The cracks in midfield and defense only widened, allowing the hosts to gallop forward on the break whenever they wanted. The visitors, in contrast looked completely out of ideas. When João Mário and Luca Ranieri combined to let Dybala waltz into the box and tee up Malen for his hat trick, it felt like we’d just hopped out of a time machine set to September 2025.
Grosso responded by bringing on Kean and Christ Inao Oulaï. Both immediately offered more than the guys they replaced and even put in some shots, although that might’ve been because Roma was, by this time, rather uninterested. Being 3-0 up will do that to you (source). The hosts were happy to knock the ball around for the remainder of the match, only venturing forward when they got bored. Even that was still too potent for this pathetic Fiorentina rearguard as Nicolò Pisilli scored the sort of goal that would make any U12s coach tear out their hair.
When the triple blast finally arrived, 4-0 was the spiritually correct scoreline. It was, in a word, a paddlin’.
Full time
Goals: Malen 27’ (ass. Dybala) 52’ (ass. Dybala) 60’ (ass. Dybala), Pisilli 86’
Cards: Hermoso 39’, Koné 49’; Fagioli 30’, Pellegrino 64’
What we learned
-This was a bad showing but Roma’s also a good team with way more continuity. Leaping to any sweeping conclusions on this showing alone is the sort of idiocy from which the VN community abstains.
-Pellegrino works hard and is big but lacks technical ability and has the maneuverability of the Ever Given. Fabio Paratici better get those headphones back in and work the phones to find a starting striker if Kean’s really leaving.
-Fagioli’s class on the ball but simply can’t do it when opponents focus on pressing him. Against a man-marking system, he lacks the wiggle to win his individual battles and get his team up the pitch. He’s even worse out of possession and Gasperini and company clearly realized it by looking for Dybala between the lines at every opportunity. I’m not sure Oulaï‘s ready yet but his dynamism means he might be a better option in these sorts of games.
-The compactness from the preseason games and the Benevento game were gone. Roma stampeded through the middle time and again. Some of that is Gasperini magic but some of it was the Viola midfield being pretty ass. That makes the defenders look particularly bad but keep in mind it’s not all on them. Radu Drǎgușin’s probalby going to catch some heat for this one and he wasn’t great but he wasn’t a structural problem either.
-The window’s still open and the team Grosso trotted out against Roma may well be very different from his XI for the majority of the season.
What’s next
Well, I guess Fiorentina won’t have the undefeated season we were all anticipating. Might as well quit watching now.
For those of you still with me at this point, next week’s home opener against Frosinone will be an entirely different challenge. The Canarini fell 0-1 to Juventus last week and will take heart from that result and this one. I don’t think they’ll press like Roma and they don’t have either Malen or Dybala. What I’m more interested in is whether a season-opening humiliation at Roma prods Paratici into action a la Pradè. I don’t think Grosso Josh Brillanted any of his guys here but if the end result is the same (Milan Badelj and Jasmin Kurtić brought in at the end of the window), it could be fine.
