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Roma make a meal of it, to win against Empoli
Posted - 23rd March 2008
AS. Roma were lucky to come away from their home game against Empoli with a victory. A win that will give them plenty to think about, as Empoli are currently the last-ranking team in Serie A. Admittedly it was a miserable day to play at Rome's Olympic Stadium. It's been raining incessantly since last night, so much so that Benedict XVI passed up a couple of stations of the cross, so far from ideal conditions for the fast play of Ludovic Giuly, Mancini, and Totti.
That Spaletti's team didn't score lots of goals was, perhaps, understandable, given the rain. Less easy to understand were the acres of space that the Roma defence afforded Empoli. It was a negligence that almost cost them the game, as Empoli's young striker Giovinco had a number of close attempts (including one opportunistic strike that hit the post). As it was, he was completely unmarked when the perfect opportunity arose early in the second-half to equalise, which he did with surety.
The first half was largely without thrills, as Roma made a meal of establishing a home-lead. Mancini, given the task of creating most of the attacking opportunities was slow off the mark, and bereft of ideas. Giuly was fiery, but ultimately caused few problems for the Empoli defence. It was Francesco Totti who, as is so often the case, managed to open things up as he flicked a perfect pass on to Tonetto (ex-Empoli) to complete a one-two that put Tonetto in the perfect position to slam home the ball into the Empoli net. It should have marked the start of a goal-fest for Roma, but a lack of attention on the part of the defence left Empoli too many chances to remain in the game.
Early in the second half Giovinco did exactly what he had been promising to do for much of the first half - he scored an easy goal, thanks to the lackadaisical attitude of the Roma defence. A run started from well inside their own half saw Empoli's Abate closed down by three Roma defenders but not before he had the chance to pass an easy ball across the Roma goal mouth to an awaiting Giovinco, who never looked like missing. The tension rose in the stadium with the equaliser - fans had already started booing the home team for their lazy performance during the first half. And then the unthinkable happened as Perotta brought down an Empoli player as they caught Roma on the counter-attack. It was a particularly cynical foul, given that Empoli had scored from similar circumstances just minutes before. The red card he recieved, though, was harsh - given that the foul occured well inside Roma's half of the pitch. The sending off of Perotta managed, though, to inject a small bit of life into the lacklustre team. Shortly afterwards Cristian Panucci found himself on the recieving end of a a yellow card. It was, perhaps, a coincidence that it was Panucci, then, to put Roma back in front, with a beautifully taken header from a setpiece. Down to ten men, Roma briefly played with enthusiasm.
There were to be no more goals in the game, but the sensation at the close of the five minutes extra time, was that Roma had been lucky to get the victory. They were certainly the team most relieved at the final whistle. Scores of rudimentary mistakes were made in the midfield, gifting the ball to Empoli who scarcely knew what to do with all the possesion they had. Other teams would have punished Roma heavily for their carelesness. Adding further to the worries facing the Roma team as they chase Inter for the scudetto were the various disqualifications picked up in the game - Mirko Vucinic and Simone Perotta will both miss the next game against Sampdoria, a team who are eagerly trying to qualify for either a UEFA Cup or Champions League qualifying position, and which is in fine form with plenty of outstanding goal-scorers.
A terrible result,then for Roma, notwithstanding the three points.
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