Four Things We Learned: Ibanez continues to grow into role

Roma register consecutive wins

Desperate to reinforce their position in the European qualification places following their accomplished victory over Parma in midweek, Roma did precisely that by dismantling Brescia 3-0 at the Stadio Mario Rigamonti.

In an accomplished performance there were many highlights, including how effective the team were on both sides of the ball and how Nicolo Zaniolo scored his first goal since his injury return.

The fact Federico Fazio and Nikola Kalinic both found the scoresheet on their returns to the starting lineup demonstrated the team's depth in the absence of many key players too.

Back in the 3-4-2-1 for this clash and delighted with his side's display, who outshoot Brescia 19 to 12 and outperformed them on Expected Goals 3.61 to 1.37, Paulo Fonseca cut a content figure after the match.

"Today I told them that, if they didn’t win today, then Wednesday’s win would have been worthless," he said.

"They knew how important it was to get the three points. We showed ambition, quality and we fully deserved the win.

"We are playing well like this (in the 3-4-2-1). Both wins have given the players confidence. The last game was important, not just because we won but because we played well and regained some momentum for the rest of the season. Now we’ve won again – but we need to think about the next game, against Verona, which will be tough.”

Ibanez continues to show promise

Despite a shaky start, where his error almost cost his team a goal, Roger Ibanez proved his worth thereafter, putting in an encouraging performance at the heart of defence.

Keeping up his steady progress since the restart, the Brazilian stopper showed good awareness and judgement to largely handle whatever he was confronted with soundly.

Awake to runners in behind and quick to lock onto any runners from midfield, whenever a runner was in his designated area of operation, he reacted swiftly. Being so quick on his feet, able to rapidly change direction and getting his body posture spot on enhanced his capacity to limit threats.

When it came to crosses and cutbacks, Ibanez coped with these admirably too by adjusting his positioning accordingly and reading the ball flight cleanly to remove the danger.

How he dropped back to cover when a colleague stepped out showed awareness, while he shifted across with his backline and pushed out with clarity when his man dropped deep with their back to goal.

In a match where he also passed the ball coherently out from the back and carried the ball upfield with vigour, this was yet another indication of how he's coming into his own since joining from Atalanta in January.

Kalinic crucial to Roma's offensive plans

Stepping into the striking role due to Edin Dzeko being granted a rest on the bench, Kalinic produced an absolutely smashing performance. Vital towards so much of Roma's best offensive work, the Croatian frontman added so much impetus to his team's attacks with his movement, nous and link play.

To start with his movement and positioning, and this provided him with the ideal platform to be such a menace. Choosing his moments perfectly when to drop between the lines to connect play, this allowed him to use his strength and technique to then lay the ball off to nearby attacking midfielders, Lorenzo Pellegrini and Carles Perez, who were importantly in goal facing postures to immediately continue the attack.

Time and time again he'd find his colleagues using his array of neat flicks and sharp passes to breathe life into attacks. Moreover, if there was no instant option available, he held the ball up efficiently or used his ability to protect the ball to win fouls as his marker nipped in.

Aside from the above, the way he'd perform opposite movements with Perez or Pellegrini, where one would drop and the other would burst in behind, ensured Brescia were kept guessing. His strategically timed runs in behind and into the box deserve mention too, for he'd angle his movement and use his arms to gain separation in order to evade his tracker to be an option for through balls, crosses and cutbacks.

His wonderfully taken goal served as a testament to this, where he embarked on a sublime run between Brescia's right back and right sided central defender, Stefano Sabelli and Andrea Papetti respectively, to latch onto Perez's magical through ball. He then took the ball down with a crafty first touch to take the goalkeeper out of the equation before instinctively finishing.

How he'd draw and pin opponents out of shape to generate disconnects in Brescia's backline so runners could exploit the space only added to his worth.

Upon looking at his numbers, and his five shots, seven touches inside the box, six fouls suffered, five won offensive duels and the fact he completed 19 of his 20 attempted passes accentuated what a fantastic match he enjoyed.

Press effectively subdues Brescia

By effectively implementing their pressing game on Diego Lopez's side, the Giallorossi were able to stifle Brescia's attempts to pass out from the back. To get things rolling, Kalinic would press the ball near central defender, while smartly curving his run to block the passing lanes back to the other central defender and the goalkeeper. This left the closeby fullback as the only viable option.

The nearby Roma attacking midfielder would then jump out towards the fullback as they received, using this pass towards the sideline as a trigger to aggressively press. Brescia's young star and deep lying playmaker, Sandro Tonali, would usually be marked by the energetic Jordan Veretout while Amadou Diawara would cover central spaces or passing lanes and help with dropping players.

Brescia’s other two central mids would be marked by either Diawara, Roma's wingback or the other number 10. Nikolas Spalek, Simon Skrabb and Ernesto Torregrossa would then be monitored by a combination of a wingback marking anyone positioned wide and the back three keeping tabs on the remaining attackers.

Regaining possession successfully with their setup through forcing errors and nullifying options, Fonseca would've been pleased with his team's efforts in this regard, with his plan never allowing Breacia to settle into a rhythm.