In his first ever Derby della Capitale clash with Maurizio Sarri’s Lazio, former Atalanta boss Gian Piero Gasperrini led Roma to a narrow victory. The only goal of the game was the work of Lorenzo Pellegrini in the 38th minute, while Lazio saw two players – Reda Belahyane and Matteo Guendouzi – sent off at the very end.
Teams
Sarri was unable to call upon Matias Vecino, Samuel Gigot, and Manuel Lazzari.
The Lazio coach fielded a 4-3-3 with Ivan Provedel in goal. Defensively, they were marshaled by Adam Marusic at right back, Mario Gila and Alessio Romagnoli as centre-backs, and Nuno Tavares on the left. The midfield trio was Matteo Guendouzi, Nicolo Rovella, and Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, while up front they pushed with Pedro, Boulaye Dia, and Mattia Zaccagni.
Meanwhile, Gasperini was without key forwards Paulo Dybala and Leon Bailey, midfielder Edoardo Bove, as well as defenders Wesley and Mario Hermoso.
Mile Svilar stood between the posts. The back three saw Zeki Celik, Gianluca Mancini, and Evan N’Dicka form the line. Devyne Rensch and Angelino provided with to a midfield consisting of Kouadio Kone and Bryan Cristante. Up ahead, Lorenzo Pellegrini supported the attacking partnership of Evan Ferguson and Matias Soule.
Match recap
The Derby della Capitale was tightly contested, tense, and ultimately decided by one moment of difference in quality. For much of the first half, both Lazio and Roma probed but found few weaknesses in the opposition’s defensive organization. Roma, depleted by absences, were compact and cautious, while Lazio sought to dominate possession and stretch the flanks, particularly using Zaccagni and Pedro.
The game’s decisive moment came in the 38th minute when Roma capitalized on a turnover, a ball lost clumsily Tavares. A pass from Soule cut through midfield, finding Pellegrini, who had drifted into the right spot. Pellegrini finished sharply, giving Roma the lead and an emotional lift—especially significant given the recent uncertainty around his contract and form.
After the goal, Lazio tried to respond. They pushed forward in waves, looking for openings, but Roma’s defensive shape held up well. Svilar made a few important saves, and the defensive line worked hard to limit clear chances.
The second half saw Lazio intensify pressure. Substitutions attempted to break Roma’s resistance, but chances continued to be few and far between. As Lazio committed more bodies forward, Roma defended deeper, managing the game, looking to avoid being breached.
Late on, the tension rose: Substitute Reda Belahyane of Lazio was sent off for a studs-up challenge around the 86th minute, increasing the difficulty for the hosts. Roma showed discipline in the closing stages, preserving the slim lead despite Lazio edging possession and hoping for a late equalizer.
The final whistle confirmed a 1-0 win for Roma, but even then things got a bit worse for the Biancocelesti as Guendouzi continued protesting with referee Simone Sozza, who eventually flashed out the red card again.
Roma’s discipline won the midfield war
For all of Lazio’s possession, it was Roma’s organization that quietly stole the show. Gasperini drilled his side into a compact block that denied Sarri’s midfield any oxygen. Pellegrini and Soule pressed with intelligence, while Kone and Cristante were relentless in shutting down the half-spaces.
Lazio found themselves circulating the ball sideways, but the central channels were sealed off. It was the kind of tactical maturity that wins derbies — less glamorous, but ruthlessly effective.
Lazio’s left wing ran into a wall
Sarri placed his bets on Zaccagni and Nuno Tavares to crack Roma open, and for brief flashes it looked promising. Zaccagni’s curling effort, which Svilar acrobatically pushed away, was Lazio’s brightest spark. But time and again Roma’s full-backs anticipated the overlaps, forcing Lazio into predictable wide play that lacked punch.
With Boulaye Dia left stranded and Castellanos offering little more when introduced, Lazio’s left-sided emphasis ended in frustration rather than fireworks.
One press, one goal, one derby decided
In matches this finely balanced, one moment can define everything. Roma didn’t need waves of attacks — they just needed one trigger. Rensch hunted Tavares high and forced a mistake in overconfidence from the ex-Arsenal man, Soule released Pellegrini, and the captain did the rest.
It was a move straight from Gasperini’s playbook: targeted pressing leading to surgical precision in transition. From that point, Roma retreated into a deeper shell, absorbed Lazio’s pressure, and dared their rivals to break them down. They never did. Pragmatism triumphed, and Roma walked away with bragging rights.
Looking ahead
It’s never easy to imagine a team that had been out of the title race for a long, long time, coming back into it to mount a serious challenge to established teams like Napoli, Juventus and Inter, but the fact is, Roma have won three and lost one Serie A match since the start of the season, and sitting in fourth place, they share the tally with second-placed Napoli and AC Milan in third. Napoli can, however, move ahead of Juventus if they beat Pisa on Monday evening.
Meanwhile, Lazio have done exactly the opposite, winning just once and losing three times. The result is that they sit in 14th place with just three points.
Sarri’s team will have a chance to bounce back when they travel to face Genoa in the next round, and Roma will try to continue their bright start to the campaign at home against Verona. But first, the Giallorossi start their Europa League adventure with a trip to France, where they will play against Nice on Wednesday.
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