Keys to Victory: Top of the table as fine start continues

Two wins from two - our columnist runs the rule over last weekend's impressive triumph against Napoli for Roma Women...

The season could not be getting off to a much better start for Roma Women after they backed up a first ever opening day win with another victory by three goals.

After setting out on their fourth season with a 3-0 triumph over Empoli, Roma continued the positive start by blitzing Napoli 4-1 in their first home fixture of the season, played at Trigoria.

Here, we look back on which factors made an impact for Roma and what we could consequently learn about this evolving team.

Key Moment

In this game, there was not a definable individual moment in which Roma secured the victory – rather, a sustained period of pressure over a four-minute window where they earned the advantage and relentlessly took the game beyond Napoli’s reach.

After 17 minutes, there was nothing to separate the two sides. After 21 minutes, Roma had a three-goal lead.

The breakthrough came via Andressa Alves with an unorthodox but spectacular looping finish from the wing, before Annamaria Serturini doubled the lead with an expertly placed, curling one-on-one finish.

Then, the third goal was volleyed in from mid-air by Manuela Giugliano at close range to wrap up a whirlwind section of the game.

After conceding one goal, Napoli’s mentality would have been to reset and gradually work their way back into the game, but Roma made that impossible by following the opener up with two more quickfire strikes.

All of a sudden, their opponents had a mountain to climb, and although there was plenty of the game left, it already seemed guaranteed to finish in Roma’s favour.

The way Roma retained control afterwards – despite a brief lapse of concentration that allowed Napoli to pull one back, before Elisa Bartoli scored a tap-in to restore the three-goal cushion – reinforced the confidence they have applied in these opening two matches.

Key Player

Although all the goals were scored by players who had already been at Roma in previous seasons, one of the new arrivals also made a bright impression without getting a goal of her own.

Despite playing from a wide position, Benedetta Glionna was at the core of the action for Roma.

Two of her well-weighted crosses – one in the air and one along the ground – led to goals, for Giugliano and Bartoli respectively.

Her performance followed a similar pattern to the previous week, when again two of her crosses had led to goals.

Quickly settling into her new surroundings, Glionna is giving Roma more balance in their wing play. Her direct and incisive approach, with darting movements in small bursts in any direction, is already causing problems for opposing defences.

After Glionna went off midway through the second half, Roma’s tempo dropped slightly, despite there still being some attacking endeavour – showing how functional she had been.

Key Decision

That said, Glionna’s withdrawal allowed Roma to experiment somewhat in what remained of the match.

Alessandro Spugna sent on Paloma Lazaro in her place, prompting a reshuffle for a couple of players without the system changing too much. Both Lazaro and Serturini ended up in different territory to their usual positions, with the former – usually effective from a central role – entering the fray on the left wing, where the latter vacated to shift over to the right.

While neither finished the game in their preferred roles, they got the chance – albeit briefly – to explore different attacking avenues.

Serturini, specifically, was able to alter her style in terms of crossing the ball with her stronger right foot during her time on the opposite flank to the one she normally cuts in (and often scores) from.

In addition to those changes, Spugna awarded a senior debut to Primavera captain Eleonora Pacioni in defence and a first Roma bow for summer signing Nina Kajzba up front. A further experiment – one that has already been seen before and will likely be again – was to deploy Giada Greggi in a slightly more advanced midfield position than where she was seen pre-injury, when the Roman midfielder replaced Andressa Alves.

With a healthy lead already built up, it was a useful opportunity for Roma to try out some different ideas. While many of the squad have been retained from last season, it is still the start of a new process for them under a new coach, who utilised the chance to further assess what is available to him in an environment in which there was less pressure.

Although none of the new ideas affected the final scoreline, they may be worth keeping in mind for when Roma need to vary things up in future challenges.

Key Fact

By the end of the second matchday in Serie A, Roma found themselves top of the league with six points from six.

It is the first time ever that they have been at the summit of the table by the end of a round, and even though these are very early days in the season, it can be an inspiring symbol for the progress they have already been making.

Four other sides are level on points with the Giallorosse at this stage, but their goal difference of +6 can only be matched by Juventus, who have scored one fewer goal than Spugna’s side.

Not only are Roma winning their early battles, but the goals are flowing too – whether with a little help from opposing defenders as in the opening fixture, or of their own merit as on Saturday.

It will be important for Roma to retain this initial form over a more sustained period of time, but these are the kind of heights they are aiming to get used to in the longer term.

Follow Samuel Bannister on Twitter: @SamBanno1