Four Things We Learn: Veretout and Villar dictate the tempo

Fonseca's men continue their fine form

Roma produced another accomplished showing to defeat Parma 3-0 at the Stadio Olimpico, with a brace from Henrikh Mkhitaryan, adding to the opener from Borja Mayoral, securing all three points.

In a match that featured another Mkhitaryan masterclass and a deserved clean sheet, Roma kept up their scintillating form. Cohesive, energetic and tactically disciplined, this was further proof of how superbly Roma are executing Paulo Fonseca's sophisticated gameplan.

Completely dominating on a statistical level too, they crushed Parma in terms of Expected Goals (2.42 to 0.03), shots (20 to one), possession (56.11 to 43.89), progressive passes (86 to 32) and completed passes into the final third (93 to 44).

In the aftermath of the commanding victory, Fonseca duly heaped praise on his troops, saying: “We played really well, especially in the first half – when we scored three goals and we could have scored even more.

"I think the team is in good form right now. In the second half we managed the game, but we still created chances to add to the scoreline.”

Villar oozes class in midfield

Making his first Serie A start of the season, Gonzalo Villar fully repaid his manager's faith by putting in an accomplished shift in central midfield.

Playing with a maturity that belies his tender years, the Spaniard was vital in Roma controlling proceedings with his precise passing, ball retention skills and clever movement.

Dictating the tempo with his distribution, Villar kept things ticking over nicely by moving the ball quickly to take advantage of any spaces. So accurate with his short passing, medium range passing, when switching the angle of attacks or when hitting line breaking passes, he had a pass for just about any scenario.

Clean and crisp, his constant scanning ensured he knew where opponents, teammates and the spaces were located, which complemented his passing and reading of the play neatly.

So comfortable on the ball and unfazed by pressure, the technically proficient midfielder weaved out of trouble expertly with some crafty feints, shoulder drops, changes of pace and faked passes to beat or unbalance markers.

Moreover, his ball carrying also ensured he could draw multiple markers before exploiting space nearby to pinpoint a free man.

Tying everything together with his movement, not only did he help form 4v3 overloads to aid in build up, but he also supported wide attacks by offering himself as a viable option to recycle possession, switch the play or progress the ball upfield.

Ibanez shuts down Gervinho

Fonseca’s decision to deploy Roger Ibanez on the right side of central defence worked a treat, for the pacey Brazilian did a wonderful job of limiting Gervinho's impact.

In a fascinating battle of the speedsters, Ibanez came out on top, handling the threat of the former Lille, Arsenal and (of course) Roma star with aplomb for the most part.

Wide awake to the danger the Ivorian posed in behind, Ibanez reacted swiftly when his man embarked on his typically slick runs. Due to a combination of Ibanez's speed, awareness and concentration, he kept his adversary quiet.

If Gervinho did get a slight jump on him, Ibanez's recovery pace ensured he could make up the necessary ground to negate his man.

In addition, the way he got touchtight to his foe when he dropped deep effectively prevented him from linking play. Marking him so aggressively and following him super deep, he never gave his man an easy touch or allowed him any room to turn and surge ahead.

The fact Gervinho had no shots, no shot assists, zero touches in the penalty area, zero passes into the final third and lost seven of his nine duels demonstrated Ibanez's dominance.

Veretout's astute forward surges

A crucial component throughout Roma's 15-game (on the field) unbeaten run in the league, Jordan Veretout maintained his high level against Parma.

His dynamic runs in behind the Parma backline were a particularly vital aspect of his game. So rapid to recognise any disconnects between defenders or when an attacker would pull a marker out of position, the Frenchman pounced.

Marauding forward with pace and excellent timing, these angled or vertical penetrative bursts from deep frequently caught the away side off guard. Seeing as Parma's backline would be preoccupied by their own marking assignments or ball watching, Veretout cunningly made the most of this.

Although he wasn't always spotted by a colleague, his role for Mkhitaryan's opener depicted the value of his blistering runs, where he drew the attention of three defenders, which created oceans of space for the Armenian to attack and ultimately score.