Four Things We Learned: Diawara drives team home

Diawara's late heroics ensures valuable victory

Roma returned to the winnersà list with a crucial victory over Fiorentina away from home, with Amadou Diawara's late strike securing a dramatic 2-1 victory for the Giallorossi.

In a match where Leonardo Spinazzola gave Roma the lead with a sublime volleyed strike before putting the ball into his own net shortly after, the contest appeared destined for a draw.

But Diawara had something to say about that, firing home the winner in a move where he went from architect to finisher in a matter of seconds.

Enjoying the upper hand in terms of shots (11 to seven), Expected Goals (1.53 to 0.61), possession (60.13% to 39.87%), accurate passes into the final third (58 to 29) and completed dribbles (12 to seven), Paulo Fonseca certainly felt the result was just.

“It was a really tough game, but I think we deserved to win – especially after the second half performance. We created chances and we were solid at the back. It was really important to win here," he said.

"It was important to realise, after not winning, what we needed to do to improve. The team showed the right attitude. We won a game that we really needed to win.”

Diawara the star and saviour

Handed a rare start by Fonseca, Diawara entirely vindicated his manager's decision by putting in a man of the match performance in midfield and scoring the aforementioned winner.

To shine the focus on his brilliant goal, and it was impressive how he instigated the passage with a crisp switch to Rick Karsdorp out on the right.

Diawara then quickly got on his bike and drove into the box. Avoiding markers expertly, his untracked, masterfully timed run ultimately saw him arrive perfectly to finish home the Dutchman's precise cross.

Aside from that immense contribution, the way he dictated the tempo of Roma's passing moves gave them plenty of impetus and control. Passing the ball coherently and with accuracy, he illustrated how effectively he can spread the play, break the press and recycle possession.

Exercising fine judgement and awareness, his decision making was superb too, with him operating with composure and clarity in possession.

His movement was also vital, for he'd drop deeper in build up to generate vital 4v3 overloads either in front of the back three or to help form a back four. In doing so, this posed questions for Fiorentina whether to step out to press him or hold their position, with either option still giving Roma a chance to progress.

Meanwhile, on the defensive end, his anticipation and reading of the play ensured he broke down many attacks with some vital interventions.

Shining on both sides of the ball, Diawara's display was a fine depiction of his tremendous quality. Having endured a turbulent season so far for many reasons, this outing will give him a huge confidence boost ahead of the all important final third of the season.

Left sided mechanics bear fruit

Funneling 44% of their attacks down their left, Roma had clear intentions to target this side of the pitch, which ensured relatively inexperienced Viola wingback Lorenzo Venuti endured a tough evening at the office.

With Spinazzola marauding forward in customary explosive fashion and being supported by Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Jordan Veretout, Lorenzo Pellegrini and the dropping Borja Mayoral, Roma made plenty of headway with this strategy.

To further accentuate their threat, Fonseca devised some slick mechanics to unbalance and ask questions of their foes. Persistently executing rotations and opposite movements that drew opponents out of position, as soon as one player made their move, another would make a counterbalancing movement to exploit the vacated space.

With Mkhitaryan tucking infield to occupy dangerous central zones or dropping deep to connect play, this effectively created room out wide for Spinazzola to attack and opened the channel for colleagues to target.

The fact Spinazzola's magnificent goal followed a smart positional switch between he and Veretout and their winner originated down this side served as a testament to the effectiveness of their approach.

Press muzzles La Viola's build up

Whenever Cesare Prandelli's team attempted to build out from the back, Roma's pressing setup ensured they struggled regularly.

With Mayoral, Mkhitaryan and Pellegrini oriented towards Fiorentina's back three, they positioned themselves smartly to press and block passing lanes. In addition, how they waited patiently before waiting for a trigger to then engage saw them control central spaces neatly and maintain access.

Roma's two central midfielders in Veretout and Diawara would usually monitor Sofyan Amrabat and Erick Pulgar, as the wingbacks would mark La Viola's wingbacks.

The Giallorossi's back three then rounded out this man on man setup by tracking Fiorentina's offensive trio. So aggressive in their harrying, as soon as Franck Ribery, Dusan Vlahovic or Gaetano Castrovilli dropped deep, they'd immediately be pressed, with Roma's defenders intent on giving them no time or space to turn or cleanly control the ball.

Stopping many passages dead in the water, thus enabling Roma to recover possession to attack again, they made life difficult for their adversaries to beat the press.

Finishing the game having let the home side only average 8.34 passes before winning back the ball, Fonseca certainly would've been delighted with his team's output in this regard.