AS Roma won the Derby della Capitale against Lazio. Despite temporarily being superior, the guests simply barely had any significant scenes in front of the goal. Meanwhile, Roma could have scored another goal with one of their chances.
Roma coach Daniele de Rossi, for whom it was his first as a coach after numerous Rome derbies as a player, changed his starting eleven in a total of five positions after the 0-0 draw at US Lecce. Celik, Llorente, Pellegrini, Dybala and El Shaarawy started in place of Karsdorp, Ndicka (missed due to a yellow card suspension), Bove, Baldzani and Zalewski.
Lazio, however, made three changes compared to the first leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final at Juventus Turin (0-2). Casale, Kamada and Isaksen replaced Patric, Luis Alberto (both bench) and Zaccagni (substituted early against Juve due to an ankle injury).
The Roma with the better qualifications
The game didn’t require any getting used to, Paredes had the first good finish after less than two minutes of play, but only put the ball from above onto the goal net. On the other hand, Immobile fired the first shot, but it only hit the side netting (7th). In the opening stages, the hosts had the better goalscoring efforts, but Llorente’s deflected shot didn’t find its way into the goal (10th), as did Pellegrini’s long-range shot (23rd).
As a result, the guests got better and better. Above all, AS Roma had increasing problems with the aggressive approach of the Biancocelesti. However, they did not allow dangerous conclusions. Angelino’s block (27th) and Paredes’ tackle (38th) thwarted the guests’ best attempts in the bud.
Mancini heads AS to take the lead – El Shaarawy hits the post
It was precisely in this phase that the hosts took the lead. Gila almost directed a flat cross into his own net (42′). At the resulting corner, Mancini evaded Romagnoli with a body deception and headed in powerfully from around ten meters, so that the score went into the break 1-0.
After the break, the hosts became stronger again – which was also reflected in the chances. First, Pellegrini narrowly missed the goal with a direct free kick (49′), before El Shaarawy hit the post after a switch (55′) and Lukaku missed a cross from Cristante (58′). The guests still had hardly any dangerous shots on goal. Castellanos’ long-range attempt was no problem for Svilar (57′), Kamada’s goal was disallowed due to a clear offside position (63′).
Lazio can’t do anything up front
Afterwards, the game was repeatedly interrupted by niggles and many duels, in the meantime the referee handed out a few yellow cards to both sides. Roma dropped and gave Lazio the ball, but the Biancocelesti hardly knew what to do with it. Two very weak free-kick variations by the guests deep in stoppage time were symptomatic of the offensive efforts in the end, so that the Giallorossi ultimately managed a 1-0 win, allowing the Giallorossi to distance Lazio to nine points and secure fifth place.
Match data Roma Lazio Match info Stadium Olimpico Attendance 64,513
Roma will continue next Thursday with the away game at AC Milan in the Europa League (9 p.m., LIVE! on kicker), Lazio will host US Salernitana next Friday (8:45 p.m.).