Four Things We Learned: Roma find right solutions to break down Empoli

Vital road win

Despite the convincing 2-0 scoreline, Roma were certainly made to work hard for their win away at the attackingly geared Empoli. Creating many chances of their own and looking very threatening in transition, Aurelio Andreazzoli's men caused plenty of headaches for the Giallorossi.

But Roma's performance still offered reasons for encouragement too. Once again looking dangerous in their initial 4-2-3-1 shape, they inflicted their fair share of suffering on the hosts, showing plenty of dynamism and quality going forward.

“Winning games like this is crucial. We've picked up three very good points today given the way we played. It's good for confidence and we needed this to keep up the run we've been on in the last four games," a relieved Eusebio Di Francesco mused.

“We must give credit where it's due because Empoli were excellent. We played very well in the first half: we kept hold of the ball well and were in control of the game. We lacked a bit of quality sometimes in the second half and we allowed Empoli too many opportunities to hit us on the break. [Francesco] Caputo caused problems for us until we tweaked our tactical set-up.”

Dzeko's smart dropping movement

With Empoli man-marking Roma midfielders Lorenzo Pellegrini, Daniele De Rossi and Steven Nzonzi, the away side often found it difficult to build out from the back. They did, however, find some workable solutions. Knowing their direct opponents would follow them tightly, Roma's mids used this to draw their markers away to create a central passing lane for Edin Dzeko to utilise.

This often allowed Roma to generate a vital numerical superiority in this area of the pitch, enabling them to construct their offensive moves with more clarity.

Interestingly, when Dzeko dropped, Stephan El Shaarawy, as he typically does so effectively, would cut infield to occupy the centre forward area, with this proving the catalyst for Roma's second goal. Note how Empoli's mids are oriented towards substitute Bryan Cristante and Nzonzi, thus helping give Dzeko space to find El Shaarawy with his header and kickstart the ultimately fruitful passage.

Focus on the right flank

Showing a keen intent to focus a solid amount of attacks down their right, this method worked nicely for the Giallorossi. Seeing as Empoli defended in a 4-3-2-1, there was inherent space out wide for Roma to explore.

They did so with some interesting mechanics, as they'd look to overload this zone of the pitch with Dzeko and Lorenzo Pellegrini, plus usually with one or both central midfielders, joining Davide Santon and Cengiz Under, to heighten their chances of breaking the Azzurri down.

In addition, the way Roma performed subtle positional interchanges, used opposite movements and slickly used their many available nearby passing options duly combined to disrupt Empoli's stopping structure.

Pellegrini’s promising full debut

Granted his full Serie A debut, Luca Pellegrini put in a very encouraging shift from his left-back station. Providing tremendous energy, intensity and oozing enthusiasm, he held his own, never looking out of his depth.

In a match where he endured a tough, entertaining battle with the physically imposing Afriyie Acquah, offered heaps of dynamism going forward and defended soundly, this outing would've given him vital confidence moving forward.

Statistically speaking, the fact he embarked on two dribbles, chimed in with four interceptions, made three progressive runs down Roma's regularly vacant left side and completed five passes into the final third demonstrated his positive contribution.

“He's a player with huge potential as long as he keeps knuckling down. He's aware of his ability and his strength. He wasn't at all out of his depth on his Serie A debut, despite finding himself up against a tough customer in [Afriyie] Acquah," reflected his manager.

"Of course there are areas of his game he must improve. He had a calf problem so I thought it best to bring him off in the second half.”