Four Things We Learned: Micki movement creates havoc

Brilliant performance hampered by late drama

Despite conceding a late penalty to draw 2-2 against Inter Milan, there were still many positives to be taken from Roma's performance against Antonio Conte's men.

Naming an unchanged lineup for this encounter, Paulo Fonseca once again deployed the 3-4-2-1, which has been crucial towards Roma's improved recent form. Holding their own against a well-drilled Inter, the Giallorossi produced some brilliant attacking passages while doing a largely sound job of nullifying the Nerazzurri's dangerous strike force.

With the goals coming from Leonardo Spinazzola and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, the result leaves Roma sitting in fifth place on the table, two points clear of Napoli and AC Milan.

Even though Fonseca was obviously disappointed not to take home all three points, he acknowledged the quality of the performance when speaking after the match.

"We ended up dropping two points this evening," he said.

"We played really well, Inter didn’t create many chances and ended up scoring from a set-piece and a bit of misfortune on our part. That’s football, though. I’m pleased with the team’s performance, but not the result.

"The side keeps learning and improving in all regards: tactically, physically. This is a new system for them, but we are playing well like this.”

Backline nullifies Inter's frontline

With Inter opting for a mobile front duo of Lautaro Martinez and Alexis Sanchez, Roma's central defenders in Gianluca Mancini, Roger Ibanez and Aleksandar Kolarov knew they had to be on their game to combat this talented pairing.

And they certainly were, as they physically imposed themselves on their diminutive adversaries through their ferocious pressing.

Keen to want his forwards to drop deep, Conte hoped to use Lautaro and Sanchez to link play to help break through Roma's defensive organisation. But the tactic largely failed due to Roma's central defenders marking them aggressively every time they dropped deep.

Giving them no time or space to control the ball, receive and turn or to execute any actions coherently, Roma were able to break up attacks to generate many turnovers in good areas.

Responding superbly to the pressing trigger of their man checking towards the ball in all areas of the pitch, they even followed their man as deep as 30 yards out from Roma's goal, with their relentless harrying vital in stunting Inter's passing moves.

The fact the passage leading to Roma's opener arose from Kolarov's determined pressing on Lautaro served as a testament to the success of the tactic.

The way they tracked runners in behind and into the box was also a highlight, for the speedy Ibanez did an especially effective job of keeping tabs on Inter's dynamic duo.

When asked what he thought of the efforts of his backline, Fonseca demonstrated his admiration of the trio.

“We have Ibanez too who is doing well, he’s a fast centre-back who can cover in behind well. Kolarov played well too in that position, for the second game in a row. I’m pleased with our centre-backs. They are all players who have quality on the ball as well," he noted.

Mkhitaryan's mastery with and without the ball

In a match where Mkhitaryan registered his ninth Serie A goal of the season and his third in his last four games, the Armenian emphatically proved his class.

Operating in his attacking midfielder slot alongside Lorenzo Pellegrini, his movement granted him an ideal platform from which to impact proceedings so heavily.

A genius at finding space between the lines as Roma's midfielders drew Inter's mids upfield, he smartly tailored his movement to occupy fantastic positions to progress moves. In addition, how he evaded his opponents' cover shadows to find oceans of space to receive in ideal forward facing body postures to continue momentum of attacks warranted praise too.

It was little wonder, then, that in the build-up to his goal he neatly found acres of room to receive and drive at the Inter backline. He then slid a clever through ball into Edin Dzeko before then continuing his run to slam home a volley after the ball rebounded kindly.

Meanwhile, once he had the ball at his feet, the 31-year-old was equally damaging, with his blistering acceleration and ball control playing a pivotal role in both of Roma's goals.

Deceptively quick and breezing by opponents with ease, this, in combination with his neat feints and blistering changes of pace and direction, meant he posed an even greater nuisance to his foes.

Now fit and fully firing, it's been a joy to observe Mkhitaryan's form after the restart, as he's now firmly established himself as an integral component within Fonseca's framework.

Smartly devised pressing structure

The way Fonseca devises his pressing strategies to deal with whoever his team is facing has become a trademark of his tenure so far. And the setup he chose to limit Inter worked efficiently too.

To start with, his front three of Edin Dzeko, Mkhitaryan and Pellegrini would be oriented towards Inter's back three. The wingbacks would then mark the away team's wingbacks while Amadou Diawara and Jordan Veretout would mark two of Inter's midfield three that consisted of Marcelo Brozovic, Nicolo Barella and Roberto Gagliardini.

Seeing as Inter had an extra man in midfield, Fonseca instructed the ball far attacking mid, Pellegrini or Mkhitaryan (depending on which side the ball was moved to), to tuck infield to mark the nearby Inter midfielder so they were now 3v3 in the middle.

This then meant the back three could enjoy 3v2 overload over Inter's front two, thus affording them the freedom to vigorously press their man as mentioned earlier.

By ramping up their pressing when the ball was passed into wide areas to use the touchline as an extra defender and using their cover shadows to block passing lanes, this made life even more difficult for Inter to get their usually slick distribution sequences into full swing.