Four Things We Learned: Kluivert energy among small signs of recovery

Character and spirit on show

Even though Roma ultimately failed to bring home an all-important three points, the way they doggedly fought back twice after going behind was a major highlight. Never giving up despite facing this adversity, which is something Claudio Ranieri would've been delighted at following his recent comments, the team remained committed and persevered to claim a 2-2 draw.

Offering something to build on ahead of the Giallorossi's crucial trip to Sampdoria at the weekend, they'll be keen to push on and keep their top four dreams alive, a message Diego Perotti was keen to point out.

"It was a tough game, going behind twice and having to fight back to draw,” Perotti said.

“We are not satisfied but it is a point we had to fight to get. We tried everything we could to get the win. We know that things haven’t really been going our way since the beginning of the year – but I think that tonight you could see that we tried to take the three points and gave everything we had. We will fight right until the end to finish as high up the table as we can. We deserve that, the club deserves that, the fans, the directors and everyone else who works with us."

Justin Kluivert produces the goods

Registering two assists and showcasing his enormous talent on many occasions, Justin Kluivert's performance out on the right was a key source of positivity.

Brimming with enthusiasm and always keen to get on the ball to make things happen for his side, the Dutchman's explosive skill set enabled him to conjure many promising moments for the Giallorossi.

Courtesy of his lightning pace and superb technical qualities, he relished 1v1 duels and every chance he got to surge forward on the counter. Whether it was using his razor sharp changes of pace and direction, Velcro like control or neat array of skills, he effectively beat his man or gained separation to execute his actions.

Indeed, both his goals served as a fine testament to this, where he received 1v1 against Cristiano Biraghi before using his nifty footwork to create room for himself to fire in his crosses.

Delivering one assist with his left foot and one with his right, the two-footed attacker not only illustrated what a vital a weapon this is for Roma but also how difficult this makes him to play against.

By the numbers, his two key passes and four dribbles, in tandem with his six tackles and four interceptions, aptly depicted his influence on proceedings.

Very happy with the 19-year-old's contribution, Ranieri was keen to praise the youngster in his post-match comments.

"I’ve got a lot of faith in Justin," he said.

"He’s not matured yet but he’s got great pace and crosses well. I needed someone to cover and attack Cristiano Biraghi in that area of the pitch and he did that really well."

Aerial strategy bears fruit

With Ranieri stating his desire for his team to not take any unnecessary risks when building out from the back, there was inherently many long balls played upfield when Roma were placed under heavy duress. Knowing he had aerial powerhouses such as Edin Dzeko and Steven Nzonzi at his disposal, the Italian tactician used this to good effect.

This meant the players around the recipient of the long ball could coordinate their movement according to the ball flight and who was to challenge for it. This ensured they could be on the move ready to receive flick ons and knock downs (often in ideal forward facing postures) to obtain the ball and progress forward quickly.

The below examples and the fact Dzeko and Nzonzi won a combined 17 headers illustrated how impactful this tactic was, for it produced some threatening passages while causing La Viola's defenders decisional dilemmas on who should mark who or who should leave their post and compete for headers.

The map below shows all the headed duels Dzeko and Nzonzi battled for. Notice how many of them are in central areas.

Additional offensive upside

Despite the result, extra optimism could still be found in some of Roma's other offensive mechanics. To start with, they way they'd generate overloads in wide and central areas to enhance their chances of breaking down Stefano Pioli's men worked nicely.

By strategically populating these designated areas, they could consequently find a free man from their 5v4, 4v3 or 3v2 superorities.

A key byproduct of that came when they were attacking the flanks, as it notably forced the away team to shift to the ball side, which would then open up spaces on the opposite flank for Roma to switch the play and let a winger or fullback be isolated.

Manufacturing many encouraging moves on the counter attack too, Roma's attackers made sure to occupy different zones, thus giving the ball carrier many options and enabling them to pin or draw their markers to create exploitable space.

Vital to this was how Roma would often be 4v4 or 5v5 vs. Fiorentina's backline, meaning their foes had minimal room for error and couldn't afford to commit any mistakes or a Roma attacker would be clean in.

Although the Giallorossi failed to take advantage of any of these instances due to a combination of some unclean decision making and good defending, their threat in transition should bring goals in future.

All statistics provided by InStat.