Four Things We Learned: Giallorossi get there in the end

Fazio heroics secures vital win

Just when Roma appeared to be heading for their second consecutive 0-0 draw, Federico Fazio's 94th minute goal propelled the home side to a deserved victory, sparking scenes of jubilation inside the Olimpico.

Although the strike was somewhat fortuitous, coach Eusebio Di Francesco believed his side had done more than enough to run out victors, with Roma completely dominating possession throughout - and creating 21 shots.

"We tried to take the game to Cagliari – a very well organised side – and really went for the win from start to finish. We'll take these three massive points," Di Francesco explained.

"I see there's only one team creating chances and we scored in the 94th minute then people say we struggle to score but I don't agree with that at all. We may not always have been tidy but we took the game to them, as we always do.”

Fazio's distribution key

While Fazio's dramatic winner was undoubtedly his most memorable contribution, his manful defending and astute passing were also of immense value. To focus on the latter, it was easy to see why he's such an asset to Roma’s build up play. As seen in the image below, his capacity to play piercing balls to bypass the opposition lines of pressure is well documented.

Here, his incisive delivery takes out no fewer than five Cagliari players, thus allowing Roma's two advanced central midfielders to position themselves in ideal advanced areas near the 10 spaces, knowing what a tremendous passer Fazio is.

Defensive concentration and anticipation essential

With Roma often throwing up to six men forward in their attempts to unlock the dogged, well organised Sardinians, this inherently left the Giallorossi backline exposed to counter attacks.

But thankfully the anticipation, awareness, concentration and decision-making of Fazio and Kostas Manolas, in combination with the counter-balancing support positioning of the weak-sided sided full-back (Alessandro Florenzi in the image below), ensured the Giallorossi were usually adequately equipped to manage Cagliari's threat.

Creating a free man in wide areas

Roma did an excellent job of creating a free man down the flanks and in the half spaces, one of Di Francesco's key principles of his philosophy, as this method was key in manipulating the Cagliari block to create openings.

The graphic underneath provides a glowing example of this, where Aleksandar Kolarov dribbles upfield before passing to Radja Nainggolan. Seeing as Nainggolan receives possession with his back to goal, this is a cue for his opposition to press him. They do so accordingly, but Nainggolan is well aware of Diego Perotti in the half space, who's a perfect free option to utilise.

Perotti is now unmarked to receive and wreak havoc, as all three of Cagliari's defensive markers in this area were successfully drawn to Nainggolan.