Four Things We Learned: Kluivert burns bright in vital win

Much-needed win

Despite being made to work hard for their timely 3-2 win over Genoa, Roma never gave up as they came from behind twice to secure all three points.

With many big names still out missing, Eusebio Di Francesco boldly opted for a 3-4-3 shape with him choosing many of the Giallorossi's exciting youngsters in Justin Kluivert, Nicolo Zaniolo, Bryan Cristante and Cengiz Under.

Particularly exciting was the frontline of Zaniolo, Under and Kluivert, for the dynamic trio caused all manner of issues for Cesare Prandelli's men.

While Di Francesco was the first to admit his team's performance was far from perfect, he was just relieved to get a much needed win.

"I have to give credit to the lads tonight," Di Francesco said.

"They played under difficult circumstances in a strange atmosphere and we all had emotions going round inside. There was a kind of protest and we know that it’s our fault that it’s come to this. It wasn’t easy for our players.

"You can see that we’re still sick as a team, but we showed our pride and desire to get three vital points. In many other respects, we’ve definitely had better performances than this without getting any reward."

Frontline mechanics bear fruit

Roma's talented young attacking trio of Zaniolo, Kluivert and Under constantly caused headaches for the Genoa backline, with their pace, energy, movement and technical qualities ensuring they threatened often.

Through their shrewd positional rotations with one another, which persistently altered their opponents' reference points, and their complementary movement, that ensured if one checked towards the ball at least one would maintain the depth and run in behind, they gave Roma much offensive impetus.

Although they initially were a little disconnected, once Di Francesco asked the wingers to drift infield to get closer to Zaniolo, they were able to combine much better.

This importantly also created space in wide areas for the wingbacks to push up into, something that further stretched their opposition by giving the Genoa wide defenders a conundrum whether to track the infield venturing winger or marauding wingback.

Always asking questions of their opponents and providing danger throughout, there was certainly plenty of upside to be drawn from Roma's youthful frontmen.

Kluivert excels

Bagging an exceptional first Serie A goal and laying on a tidy assist, Kluivert put in a fine body of work.

Aside from the aforementioned details, his ever-improving relationships with his teammates, wicked dribbling ability, solid link play and crafty movement were all admirable aspects of his output.

Always keen to get on the ball and make something happen or supply an outlet with his runs in behind or when he came towards the ball, he proved a handful for Genoa to contain.

In addition, the way he pressed and harried his opposition, plus worked his socks off, was also admirable, in a match where he chimed in with two interceptions, made one tackle, embarked on five dribbles, unleashed two shots and completed 16 of his 21 passes.

Set pieces shine

Roma produced many promising set pieces during this fixture, as they used the strength and size of their big men while blending some imagination to continually wreak havoc from dead ball situations.

While Federico Fazio's goal from a set piece was the most prominent example, there were many other scenarios Roma conjured that could've found the back of the net.

The example below depicts how Roma sharply positioned their tallest and best headers of the ball in Federico Fazio, Kostas Manolas, Steven Nzonzi and Zaniolo in a cluster ready to attack the outwards swinging corner.

In doing so, they could gain a dynamic advantage as they're all facing forward against their stationary foes and have separation from their opposition to run and jump at the ball freely. Also noteworthy is how Cristante is blocking the keeper's path.

The second illustration shows how Roma spread themselves out across the width of the box and looked to find the towering Nzonzi to head the ball back across goal to be charged at by Roma's tall timber in advantageous body postures yet again.