Four Things We Learned: Character shows as Giallorossi win out

Character shines through

Roma were certainly made to work hard to obtain all three points against Walter Mazzarri's Torino, but after relinquishing a two goal lead, Stephan El Shaarawy ultimately secured victory with 17 minutes remaining.

Showing resilience and spirit to fight back and triumph against a Torino side who hadn't lost away from home heading into the match, the Giallorossi made it three league wins in a row.

Following an excellent first half from Roma, tiredness, some poor game management and sloppy decision making crept in as the second half wore on, which could've quite easily cost them.

In spite of this, however, Eusebio Di Francesco still found room to praise his troops in his post-match comments.

“I'm happy because the lads are working really well and we're improving a lot as a team," he said.

"We definitely need to do better defensively, though. Sometimes you actually need to be a bit less aggressive and read situations better. If you're winning 2-0, you get caught on the counter, as we did several times today.

"We had the chances to kill the game off but couldn't take them. We deserved to go in at the break with a bigger lead given the way we played. Today's win shows our mental strength because we responded to finding ourselves back on level terms at 2-2 and showed the right ideas.”

Effective press and counterpress

Whenever Torino attempted to build out from the back, Roma executed Di Francesco’s high pressing demands effectively, with their efforts in the first half especially notable.

To start with, Edin Dzeko would either push up to central defender Nicolas Nkoulou or goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu. He was then flanked by the two wingers, who oriented themselves towards the opposition's wide central defenders.

Nicolo Zaniolo would then track Tomas Rincon, with Lorenzo Pellegrini and Bryan Cristante keeping tabs on Cristian Ansaldi and aiding their central defenders with Torino's infield attacking midfielders of Vittorio Parigini and Iago Falque. Roma's fullbacks would round things out by keeping close tabs on the away side's wingbacks.

By causing many errors, long balls and subsequent turnovers, this served as a testament to their work in this regard, as they timed their aggressive pressing sharply while using their cover shadows to block passing routes behind them. Fittingly, the passage prior to Roma's second came about thanks to their efficiently implemented high pressing setup.

Supplementing the afore with their dogged counterpressing immediately after they lost possession, something that allowed them to win the ball back on many occasions high up to attack again, plus stop their opposition countering quickly, and there was much to like about Roma's intensity in these areas.

Zaniolo's multifaceted movement

While his fantastic determination and strength in the moments before his masterful goal were the obvious highlights, Zaniolo's movement was another key takeaway from his sterling performance.

Being man-marked by Torino's fierce, battle-hardened midfielder Rincon, Zaniolo had his work cut out dealing with the Venezuelan's close attention. But through a combination of his smarts, physicality, tenacity and spatial awareness, he persistently managed to create favourable conditions for his team both with the ball and through his movement.

His movement was particularly notable, for he constantly drew his tracker away from dangerous central areas to create passing lanes into his attackers, knowing full well Rincon would follow his every move. In addition, he caused confusion with his tidy rotations with his central midfielders, wingers or centre-forward.

Matching his adversary admirably not only in battles of strength but also athleticism, his aptitude in the latter enabled him to outfox his man with some calculated runs in behind.

Warranting special mention was his runs into the channel on either flank behind the Torino wingback, as he breached his opposition frequently via this method.

Dzeko's structural importance

Getting the nod from Di Francesco to start this vital fixture, the Bosnian may not have found the back of the net, but he vindicated his manager's selection in other ways.

So important to Roma's offensive structure, his positional sense to enhance his team's forward forays was key towards Roma unlocking Il Toro. Holding the ball up expertly, he did a great job of provoking pressure pressure towards him before releasing it to the far side and drawing his man out of their shape to manufacture openings for his fellow attackers to exploit.

Furthermore, he successfully linked midfield and attack with his neatly executed checks towards the ball and shrewd distribution, with him causing confusion for his man whether they should track him or hold their post.

Forever probing to manipulate the Torino backline, a terrific example of his worth here arose in the lead up to Roma's winner, where he helped grant El Shaarawy room to latch onto Pellegrini's pass by pinning two opponents.

Even though he made the odd error, through his thoughtful, clever and subtle exertions, Dzeko still ensured his impact was keenly felt.