Four Things We Learned: Kolarov & Fazio help Roma squeeze by

Roma squad depth shows itself

Roma followed up their dogged win over Torino by securing a second consecutive 1-0 scoreline against a defiant Crotone outfit. Playing their third game in six days, Eusebio Di Francesco smartly made six changes from the Torino win. And the coach was delighted his players rewarded his faith, in a match where the depth of Roma's squad was evidenced nicely.

"I made changes and we still got three points – that’s important as we chase the teams ahead of us," Di Francesco said. "I think it’s the right thing to make changes, obviously considering the match and the condition players are in."

Fazio dribbling breaks the lines

Due to Crotone defending in a horizontally compact 4-4-2 formation, the role of Roma's right sided central defender, Federico Fazio, was vital for the home side in disrupting the opposition's structure to create spaces upfield.

By patiently circulating the ball around their defence, the Giallorossi did a good job of shifting the opposition's defensive front two to left of centre areas. Once they'd done so, Roma would switch the ball back to Fazio, where he now had vast spaces to dribble forward and subsequently provoke a pressing action from a Crotone midfielder.

The image below depicts this accurately, where Fazio draws Andrea Nalini out of slot, thus manufacturing space for him to pass to the free Rick Karsdorp.

Kolarov's incisive runs

Aleksandar Kolarov continued his remarkable start to the season with another fine showing, putting in a shift where he demonstrated his full range of attacking capabilities. Particularly effective against Crotone, however, was his perfectly timed forward bursts.

Whether making wide overlapping surges or infield underlapping runs, this, in combination with his sublime passing ability, saw him have a profound impact on the contest. His aptitude in this regard even served as the catalyst for Roma's winning goal.

Here upon picking up possession inside his own half, he then proceeded to play two crafty one-twos, with Diego Perotti and Gerson respectively. While they were great passages on their own, his off the ball movement to receive the return passes while making a damaging infield run beautifully allowed him to gain a dynamic advantage to breach the Crotone defensive structure and to ultimately win the decisive penalty.

Roma's effective counter press

The Giallorossi's well-executed counter press once they lost possession was vital in ensuring Davide Nicola's men found it very tough to hit Roma on the counter or get some control once they regained possession.

Key to this was Roma's ideal spacing within their attacking structure, which saw them situated in excellent positions to press, close off passing lanes and force the visitors into rushed decisions as soon as they lost possession.

Roma could therefore win the ball back high in their offensive half and attack the unset opposition backline rapidly.