Opinion: Five things we learned from Roma's 2-2 draw with Cagliari

After taking a 2-0 lead at Sant’Elia, Roma's advantage was clawed back by a valiant Cagliari as the game finished 2-2.

Edward Stratmann highlights five key points from the contest.

Cagliari will be tough to beat at home for anyone

Having won 15 of their 21 games at the Stadio Sant'Elia last season on their way to promotion, Cagliari were always going to be tough to beat at home. And so it proved, as the Islanders staged a stirring comeback to snatch a 2-2 draw with AS Roma. Roma led 2-0 but were pegged back in the second half – agonisingly unable to hold on the final moments.

One small positive: at least the Giallorossi were able to extend their unbeaten Serie A streak to 19 matches.

"What we can learn from tonight is that we need to be stronger mentally,” Luciano Spalletti said. “We need to be more focused on our objectives. We could have seen the game out but at the first sign of difficulty we lost our way. It's hard to explain why we played the way we did when it was 2-1."

Strootman’s power, and impact, grows

It was great to see Kevin Strootman score his first league goal for Roma since January 2014, when he netted against Livorno. This wasn't his only contribution, though, for the Dutchman's energy, intensity and passion in midfield ensured he had a profound impact throughout the contest.

His defensive aggression and tenacity enabled him to win the ball back on many occasions, while his slick passing kept things ticking over nicely in midfield - and even created three goalscoring chances for Roma.

Perotti’s movement creates mismatches

With Massimo Rastelli organising his Cagliari side into a 4-3-1-2 formation, this inherently meant they had an extra number in the centre of the park against Roma's 4-3-3. But the movement of Diego Perotti - which saw him regularly drop deep into midfield from his false nine position - meant Roma actually often had parity in this area of the pitch. Indeed, this allowed Roma to retain possession with a greater degree of comfort initially, not getting overrun in midfield and guaranteeing their defenders and midfielders consistently had viable passing options.

Perotti's calmly taken penalty also brought his tally to three goals for the season. In addition, that strike now means he's scored a notable six goals and supplied seven assists in his 17 Serie A games with Roma.

Salah keeping the defence honest

To counterbalance Perotti regularly shifting from his central attacking post, Mohamed Salah often drifted inside and occupied the vacated space through the middle. That made sure Roma always had a focal point up front, plus it created oceans of space for right-back, Alessandro Florenzi, to exploit too.

Another influential aspect of Salah's game was his speed and trickery in transition, as he caused the home side so much grief whenever he was afforded an opportunity to run at the Cagliari backline.

Although his decision-making and finishing wasn't always perfect, his explosive set of attributes still saw him pose a constant danger.

Bruno Peres is starting to settle in – on either flank

Bruno Peres backed up his solid Serie A debut for Roma last weekend by putting in another promising shift against Cagliari. Although he was deployed in a somewhat unfamiliar left-back role in Sardinia, it took less than two minutes for the Brazilian to impose himself on the contest with one of his customary barnstorming forward surges.

Importantly, this theme continued throughout, as his blistering runs, combined with his dribbling skills, ensured Cagliari were constantly wary of his attacking threat down their right. The fact he was the most fouled player on the pitch suitably illustrated his impact.