Four Things We Learned: Midfield press clinches record win

Record-breaking night in Florence

In a thrilling match at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, Roma eventually outlasted a resolute Fiorentina – who had fought back to draw level twice - to claim a record-breaking 4-2 victory. The pulsating win secured Roma's place in the history books in some style, as they became the first Serie A side to win twelve straight away games.

Heading into the international break with five straight wins in all competitions, Eusebio Di Francesco had every reason to be pleased with his team's spirited effort and overall positive current form.

"I’ve got my ideas across on the training pitch and shown some top players how to take the next step,” he said. “I’m really pleased with the run of away victories, which carries on from the work [Luciano] Spalletti did last season. I hope we can continue winning on the road so I can achieve a record all of my own.”

Midfield high press

The way the Giallorossi's two advanced central midfielders, Radja Nainggolan and Lorenzo Pellegrini, sprung forward to press their opponent high up the pitch was a crucial component to the away side disrupting Fiorentina's build-up. Particularly effective, however, was the customarily aggressive Nainggolan, who responding exceptionally to pressing triggers to heap pressure on his man, Milan Badelj.

The finest example of this arose in the lead up to Gerson's opening goal, where the Belgian powerhouse noticed Badelj receive the ball in a slightly backwards facing, open body position. Nainggolan duly charged at his man and used his masterful tackling ability and physicality to dispossess the Croatian and put into motion the goalscoring passage. Moreover, by winning the ball so high up, Roma ensured they were in a tremendous spot to attack the unbalanced Viola defence, something they made no mistake in doing.

"We need to go and press teams in their half of the pitch – our goals came from us winning the ball back today. That’s the kind of attitude that needs to define us," noted Di Francesco.

Pellegrini's surging runs lengthen midfield impact

The energetic forward bursts of Pellegrini from deep had a number of strategic advantages for Roma. Not only did they wreak havoc for Stefano Pioli's marking structure and give Roma another option in behind, but they also created dangerous central space for the likes of Edin Dzeko and Stephan El Shaarawy to exploit.

As seen in the image below, Pellegrini's diagonal run forces centre back, Davide Astori, to track him, thus manufacturing a huge gap to be utilised by El Shaarawy. It's also important to note the role of Gerson in occupying his tracker to give Pellegrini vast room to move into.

Half-space overloads

Another interesting aspect of Roma's performance came by way of their well-executed overloads in the right half space. Nainggolan's drifting over next to Pellegrini was vital here, which, in combination with Gerson's infield movement and Alessandro Florenzi's deep supporting positioning, afforded Roma a strong foundation to penetrate in this zone.

Subsequently Roma could achieve numerical and positional superiority over Fiorentina here, with this causing a decisional crisis among the Viola’s backline and confusion over who each defender should follow.

In addition, Roma could now move the ball quickly to penetrate their opposition due to their close proximity and ideal platform to undertake fast passing combinations.