Four Things We Learned: Cengiz raises game to deliver needed win

Much-needed win a massive boost

Cengiz Under's first goal for Roma turned out to be enough to secure a return to winning ways for the Giallorossi against a dogged Hellas Verona side - as Eusebio Di Francesco's men recorded their first league win of 2018.

Having not won any of their previous six league outings obtaining all three points was crucial, especially after Lorenzo Pellegrini's second half red card.

With Inter Milan drawing with Crotone the night before, the result puts Roma right back in the race for a top-four finish and will surely restore some recently lost confidence.

Change to 4-2-3-1 benefits Nainggolan

One of the key talking points before, during and after the match was Di Francesco's decision to utilise a 4-2-3-1 formation, which saw Radja Nainggolan deployed in an attacking midfield role that so allowed him to thrive last season. Able to use his intelligent movement, dribbling quality and obvious shooting ability closer to goal allowed him to shine and cause immense headaches for Verona.

Whether dropping deep to support his central midfield duo to generate numerical superiorities, operating within close proximity to Edin Dzeko in the 10 spaces or edging into the half spaces and wings to combine with the wide men, Nainggolan's movement, in particular, and all round dynamism saw him have a profound impact on proceedings.

The image below shows his astute positioning between the lines, thus enabling him to inherit possession and link with the many options around him or embark on one of his customary dangerous dribbles upfield.

Right-sided mechanics bear fruit

Knowing he'd be facing a Verona team determined to sit deep, Di Francesco cleverly orchestrated the right side to manufacture some promising conditions for Roma to progress.

Instructing his players to circulate possession laterally and diagonally, Roma did so with the intention of manipulating their opposition defensive structure until an opening arose. As seen in the image below, this is precisely what Roma have done from a move that initially originated from the left.

Alessandro Florenzi's forward burst is vital here, for even though he isn't used, he occupies Mohamed Fares, Verona's left-back. This subsequently created three-on-two numerical superiority in favour of Cengiz, Pellegrini and Nainggolan, with the latter's smart movement seeing him present as the free man to dismantle Verona's setup and push forward freely.

Cengiz Under's unforgettable outing

In a match the talented Turk will never forget - chiefly because of his scintillating early strike - he also illustrated many more of his endearing attributes. While he displayed his wicked acceleration, razor-sharp change of direction, wizardry on the dribble and strong work rate throughout, his dovetailing with Nainggolan was another encouraging takeaway from his performance.

The duo always seemed to be on the same wavelength, as they interchanged positions smoothly and regularly found each other with some crisp passes.

In the graphic below, their understanding is aptly depicted, where Cengiz is making a superbly timed third man run, knowing that Pellegrini is about to pass to Nainggolan, who has drawn Fares to him.

Seeing as Fares has edged infield to mark the Belgian, losing sight of Cengiz momentarily, by the time Nainggolan duly lays the ball into Cengiz's path, Fares will be out of position, and therefore has a minimal chance of stopping Cengiz in full flight due to his dynamic advantage.

Having grown tremendously in the last few games, it was fantastic to see Cengiz now reward his manager's faith in him.

The delighted 20-year-old mentioned as much after the win, saying: “I’m very pleased to have helped decide the game. I’ve been dreaming of scoring my first goal for a while.

"I have to the thank the coach, he has been patient with me and helped build my confidence.”