Roma took a hard-fought win on Tuesday night, beating Cagliari 4-2 at home after conceding first. It extended an unbeaten league run, though the squad behind the result is stretched thin.
A comeback built on the academy
Cagliari took an early lead, and Roma needed an answer. It came from the youth system: Emanuele Lulli and Niccolò Pisilli, both academy products, scored early to turn the match around, according to [1]. The finish was left to the bench. Rodrigo Mora and Donyell Malen came on and scored late to secure the points, as [2] reported.
The win also fits a pattern of rotation. Gasperini made changes for the midweek game, and Malen, Mora and Mario Hermoso all started among the substitutes, per [3]. Two of those substitutes then scored, which suggests the changes did not weaken the side. Cagliari arrived having reportedly switched to a back three after a 1-1 draw with Juventus followed by two defeats, but they still scored twice and made Roma work.
The injury list keeps growing
The result came with several senior players missing. Paulo Dybala, Mile Svilar, Manu Koné and Lorenzo Pellegrini were all unavailable, and each was reported as still out of action ahead of the Cagliari game. Pierluigi Gollini has been Roma’s first-choice goalkeeper in Svilar’s absence and kept goal against Cagliari, conceding twice.
The gaps are felt most in midfield. Koné and Pellegrini are both out, and Gasperini said after the game that fatigue in midfield is starting to show, according to [1]. That is the context for the academy’s contribution. Young players such as Pisilli and Lulli are now taking minutes that might otherwise go to injured regulars, and the late goals from Mora and Malen show the bench can still change a game. How long that holds up depends on how quickly the injured players return.
Dybala and the Udinese question
Dybala is the most closely watched absence. He was left out of the squad for the Cagliari game because he is not yet ready to return from a calf problem that has kept him out for three games, [4] reported. According to Sky Sport Italia, he needs a few more training sessions. Roma hope he will be available for the trip to Udinese next Saturday and fit to start against Manchester United.
That hope is unconfirmed, and he has not been cleared. If he misses Udinese, Gasperini will again need the attacking depth that produced goals against Cagliari. The other three absentees had no return date in the input, so we cannot say when they will be back. Any call on Dybala is likely to come only after the training sessions mentioned above.
What it means
Roma are third in Serie A with 21 points from nine games, a record of six wins and three draws with no defeats, and a goal difference of 23 scored against 8 conceded. The recent form is mixed but not worrying. Over their last five games they beat Cagliari 4-2, drew 3-3 at Napoli, beat Slovan Bratislava 4-0 in the Champions League, beat Genoa 2-0 and lost 3-4 to Real Madrid in the Champions League. They have scored at least three goals in four of those five games, but they have also conceded in four of them, including twice against Cagliari and three times at Napoli.
The next fixture is Udinese v Roma on 31 October. Roma will go there on a short turnaround with an injury list and a midfield that Gasperini says is tired. The question is whether the rotation and the academy depth can cover that for another game, and whether Dybala returns in time. The site’s forecast for the match locks 24 hours before kick-off, so the model view will reflect the team news available then.
Sources
- Football Italia: Gasperini: ‘A precious Roma win, youth players have talent’ football-italia.net ↩
- Football Italia: Serie A | Roma 4-2 Cagliari: Hard fought victory secured football-italia.net ↩
- Football Italia: Gasperini: ‘Roma need to keep everyone in top shape, Castro decisive’ football-italia.net ↩
- Football Italia: Official: Dybala left out of Roma squad for Cagliari clash football-italia.net ↩
