Four Things We Learned: Giallorossi approach pulls Lazio apart

Di Francesco restarts derby story in the right way

Eusebio Di Francesco's first derby (and first derby win) as Roma manager was certainly a night to remember, as his side showcased their quality and character in a brilliant display to oust a strong Lazio.

Second half goals from Diego Perotti and Radja Nainggolan were enough to secure a vital 2-1 win over their rivals, which ultimately proved too much for Lazio to come back from. With Roma putting in one of their most outstanding performances of the season, their coach deserves great praise for the way he's so successfully implemented his fascinating tactics at a such an early stage in his tenure.

Roma’s first line press successfully disrupts

Undoubtedly one of the key elements towards Roma stifling their foes came courtesy of their first line pressing structure. By going man on man on Lazio's back three and defensive midfielder, Lucas Leiva, the Giallorossi effectively suffocated their attempts to pass out from the back.

Perotti would occupy Bastos, Edin Dzeko would track Stefan de Vrij and Stephan El Shaarawy would monitor Stefan Radu, while the nearest central midfielder, either Kevin Strootman or Radja Nainggolan, would invariably take Lucas.

Roma's second goal provided a perfect example of this, where Perrotti's vigorous pressing saw him emphatically dispossess Bastos and subsequently find Nainggolan, who scored with a customarily venomous drive from outside the box.

Strootman’s delayed surges unbalance opponents

With Roma funneling 60% of their attacks down the left and left of centre locations, Di Francesco's tactics worked wonders in manufacturing promising scenarios for progression in these areas.

While overloads and many excellent one-on-one situations for Perotti and Aleksandar Kolarov arose, another vital mechanic was Perotti's dropping movement that created ideal spaces in behind for Strootman to exploit.

As seen in the graphic below, Perotti drops deep, thus dragging Bastos with him, which leaves a huge opening for Strootman to duly charge into and cause a major structural imbalance in Lazio's defensive line.

Use of wide areas in build-up

Facing off against a Lazio side that were keen on populating central areas, Roma came well equipped to deal with this by using the wide areas for progression in their build up play.

Seeing as Ciro Immobile and Luis Alberto would focus their attention on Roma's two centre backs and Daniele De Rossi this left vast spaces on the wings for the home side to utilise.

The below image gives an illustration of how they did precisely this. Here, after switching to Kolarov, he then dribbles upfield, forcing Marco Parolo to leave his post and press him. This then leaves Strootman free to receive, as Perotti is pinning Adam Marusic and Lucas is unwilling to leave his central post.