Opinion: Analysing Borja Mayoral's first goalscoring display

Having made a slow start to life with AS Roma as he adjusted to Paulo Fonseca's system, his new teammates and living in an unfamiliar environment, Borja Mayoral impressively kicked into gear with a brace against CFR Cluj.

In what was a confidence boosting performance by the young Spaniard, he led the line encouragingly against the Romanian outfit to help Roma secure a 5-0 win.

Fulfilling his role excellently, his movement, positional sense and clinical finishing were key cornerstones of his output. To start with his movement, and he recognised vacant spaces shrewdly before duly exploited them both in front of and behind the defence.

When checking towards the ball to link play, his timing was excellent, quickly getting the jump on his man so he could be an option to link midfield and attack. With his marker regularly in two minds whether to track him deep or hold their post, this allowed him to gain separation to overload midfield to ensure Roma could progress upfield smoothly.

Proving a master at finding space between the lines, the 23-year-old's presence here was vital in breathing life into many passages.

Demonstrating his technical skills once on the ball, he knitted play together smoothly with some neat layoffs, coherent switches of play and by using his tidy first touch and ball control to hold up possession, plus evade markers, while waiting for a viable option.

Equally impressive with his runs into depth, Mayoral angled and directed his runs crisply to get in behind. Using some sharp feints, double movements and by exploiting the blindside of defenders, opponents found him hard to monitor.

Embarking on his runs in the space between defenders and expertly peeling off their back shoulder, his aptitude here was clearly evident.

The Real Madrid loannee's guile inside the box was a highlight throughout too. Persistently getting himself into ideal areas, he rapidly noticed where the space and nearby markers were before tailoring his position accordingly.

Indeed, his clinically taken double offered a testament to his polished positioning and awareness. The first saw him predict the ball drop smartly before tucking his finish home.

Then, his second arose following a cunning blindside run after subtly rotating with Juan Jesus, who helped draw a tracker to grant Mayoral the freedom to expertly fire home his wicked finish.

Taking his opportunity to impress his manager with both hands, Mayoral was overjoyed at his performance and the result.

“I’ve been dreaming of a night like this one,” he said.

“My first goals at the Olimpico – I’m delighted personally but, naturally, delighted at the performance of the whole team too."

By the numbers, his five touches inside the area, three shots, one secondary assist and the fact he completed all of his 29 attempted passes depicted his fine night.

Illustrating his poaching prowess and varied skill set that led Roma to bring him in during the offseason, Mayoral will be hoping this classy display will be the catalyst for him to take off at Roma.