Four Things We Learned: Roma see away streak ended

On Sunday afternoon the Giallorossi were held to their first draw of the season - as Genoa fought back to claim a 1-1 draw at Stadio Luigi Ferraris. Our columnist looks at some talking points from the game...

An opportunity missed

Frustration was the overriding emotion on Sunday evening, as Roma's record-breaking away winning streak was halted at 12 by Genoa's dogged defensive display in Liguria.

On another night, things could have certainly gone differently: with De Rossi's sending off being avoidable and Kevin Strootman hitting the post late on. A disappointed Eusebio Di Francesco noted what could have been in his post match comments

"We’re showing that we can really bring the game to our opponents," he said. "We didn’t need this set back – we’ve dropped two points.

"We were a tad naive and we paid for that. It’s a shame, having taken the lead. We have ourselves to blame for this draw.”

Amid the anguish there was perhaps one small bright spot: the return of Patrik Schick, who looked threatening and intelligent - if understandably lacking some sharpness - in a late cameo, his first appearance since the middle of September.

Kolarov attacking importance

Coming up against a Genoa side that were keen to defend in a low block 3-5-2 defensive shape, that was heavily focused on limiting space in central areas, the width provided by Aleksandar Kolarov provided a viable attacking solution.

With Genoa's front two focusing their attention on Roma's two central defenders, in combination with Roma's central midfielders and Diego Perotti's infield drifts often occupying Genoa's midfielders, Kolarov often had good one-on-one situations out wide. This subsequently allowed the Serbian international to receive possession and use his dribbling ability and rapid acceleration to create problems, plus give him the freedom to use his superb distribution, both short and long, to manufacture openings.

Kolarov's statistics - three key passes, two shots, two successful dribbles and the fact he was fouled five times - underline the menace he created.

Nainggolan and Strootman fill the '10 space'

Another method Roma deployed to unlock Davide Ballardini's disciplined defensive structure came through the way Radja Nainggolan and Strootman, Roma's two most advanced central midfielders, would simultaneously push forward and occupy space in between Genoa's defensive and midfield lines.

This advanced positioning subsequently gave the likes of Federico Fazio, Juan Jesus and De Rossi excellent vertical passing options, while also causing confusion for Genoa’s last line on whether to step up and jeopardise their shape or hold their post, with both having potentially dangerous ramifications.

As seen in the image below, Strootman and Nainggolan are in the aforementioned dangerous zones and as the play unfolds they eventually combine before Nainggolan unleashes a clean shot on target.

The mechanics of El Shaarawy's goal

Stephan El Shaarawy's brilliantly taken goal would've delighted Di Francesco no end, for it consisted of so many vital components required to manipulate a defence to create good chances.

Firstly, the way Nainggolan and Gregoire Defrel took up stations centrally near the right half space successfully drew their opponent towards them and away from Alessandro Florenzi, thus giving him additional time to assess his options before crossing.

Secondly, Edin Dzeko's near post run effectively drags Nicolas Spolli with him, which opens up a wide gap for El Shaarawy to utilise. And lastly, El Shaarawy's superbly timed blindside, diagonal run ensures he can enjoy a dynamic advantage of his marker to coolly finish home into the space Dzeko left behind.