The derby goes to Roma. The capital is yellow-red

The Capital derby is yellow and red. Roma beat Lazio 2-0 in the match valid for the nineteenth day of the Serie A championship and won their second consecutive derby: goals from Lorenzo Pellegrini (who scores one of the most important goals of his career, winning back the Giallorossi people who will cheer him on his exit from the pitch) and Alexis Saelemaekers. The first ring of the match came after three minutes with a shot from Kone, which was easily defused by Provedel; the Biancocelesti respond with Marusic, who however shoots high.

In the 10th minute the derby lights up with a goal from one of the most anticipated men of the evening, Lorenzo Pellegrini: the Giallorossi captain receives from Saelemaekers, makes a feint and puts the ball into the bottom of the bag with a curling shot. Claudio Ranieri’s boys want to take advantage of the positive moment and three minutes later they try with Hummels, whose shot is deflected for a corner. In the 18th minute Roma doubled their lead with Alexis Saelemaekers who, after receiving the ball from Dybala, first had his shot blocked by Provedel and then scored on the rebound. Lazio needs a jolt and in the 22nd minute it is Dele-Bashiru who leads the charge with a great personal move, which ends with winning a corner. The Biancocelesti began to feel a bit nervous and, following some incorrect interventions, received three yellow cards in the space of a few minutes. At the end of the first half Marco Baroni’s team showed up near Svilar, but without too much conviction. We go to half-time with a score of 2-0

In the second half the Biancoceleste coach tries to shake up his team inserting Dia and Tchaouna and in a few minutes the team manages to build some interesting chances with shots from Castellanos, Romagnoli and Rovella. The most dangerous is Guendouzi, whose shot is blocked by an attentive Svilar. In the 58th minute Pellegrini, served by Dovbyk, looks for a personal brace but finds the opposition with Provedel’s fists. A minute later in the other half of the pitch Tchaouna did not take advantage of Dia’s edge, wasting an excellent opportunity to close the gap due to a slip at the moment of the shot. In the 69th minute Castellanos lets loose a tricky diagonal shot, but Svilar relaxes and avoids problems. In the final forcing of the Biancocelesti Zaccagni squandered a good opportunity, while Dia failed to find the winning move on Nuno Tavares’ assist.

In the middle of injury time a melee breaks out following a tough face-to-face fight between Hummels and Castellanoswhich leads to the expulsion of the Argentine striker. Despite the final siege by the Biancocelesti, the Giallorossi team managed to defend the 2-0 lead and bring home a precious success. By virtue of this result, Roma wins its second consecutive derby and rises to tenth place with 23 points, while Lazio remains fourth at 35. The Giallorossi will return to the field on Sunday 12 January at the Dall’Ara against Bologna, while the Biancocelesti they will be involved on Friday evening at the Olimpico against Como.

The words of the protagonists

• Claudio Ranieri:“Now we are a team, everyone knows what they have to do. The players help each other and keep the right distance. We have to show that we have been through the night, we have to start seeing some sunshine. It would be terrible not to repeat the performance in Rome. We have to fight like this evening. The coach has to act as a counterbalance, the derbies take charge on their own. I just try to keep the boys calm and give everything on the pitch.” “When I arrive in a team I put on my helmet and go to work as I am used to – he continues – bringing serenity and asking a lot of myself and the players. I tried to restore self-esteem, here the quality of the boys is very high but it must be peppered with determination and the desire to achieve results.”

• Marco Baroni: “We conceded two bad goals. The team lacked pace in the first half. The position of the attacking midfielder is too important. We struggled in finding speed in maneuvering and going out wide. We were a bit blocked. The team in the second half time played a Lazio game. We can’t help but play with pace, which we did well in the second half because I saw the identity of my team. We are sorry for the fans, but now we have to start again in a bit of trouble due to injuries. Pedro was still out, I forced Noslin and he wasn’t feeling very well.” On the transfer market: “Market? We are careful with the club and with the director. We are trying to develop players, like Dele-Bashiru. In my opinion, when he starts as a midfielder he does much better. We missed Vecino, we arrived with injuries which put us in difficulty, but this must not be an alibi”, states the Biancoceleste coach”.

• Gianluca Mancini: “It’s too nice to celebrate after winning a derby, it’s wonderful to see the fans happy. They are our push. We’re happy, we needed it. The derby is always special. We did little in the first round, 23 points for a team like this is a few. The derby must give us an extra push for the second round. I saw him suffer, I told him to take back the stadium and the fans and he did it in fifteen minutes.”

• Alexis Saelemaekers: “It’s an incredible emotion. I had already played in the Milan derby, but the Rome derby is also something special. Now we have to continue like this. On the bus I told Pellegrini that he would score. It was a difficult period for him , I’m happy he scored.” “Ranieri? He’s a legend of Rome, he took over the group in a difficult moment. He raised the level of mentality, we won for him as well as for the fans. We start again with three very important points for the championship.”