Keys to Victory: Inter domination sets up Juventus showdown

The feeling that Roma Women could be building something special continued to grow after a 2-0 win over Inter on Sunday, in which they produced one of their best performances of the season.

Their ninth win in a row in Serie A Femminile, it moved the Giallorosse just three points behind league leaders – and next opponents – Juventus.

Goals from Andressa Alves and Manuela Giugliano either side of half-time ensured the first of four games against the fellow members of the top five began in the best manner.

Roma are showing their ambition more and more every week, and this is how they did so on Sunday.

Key Player

The scorer of Roma’s opening goal happened to be one of the standout players from the match as a whole. Andressa played with substance and quality in her attacking midfield position throughout her 70 minutes on the pitch.

Even when it wasn’t as easy as usual to find spaces, an unaffected Andressa made the most of what she could, battling her opponents well off the ball and making good use of it when she did have it at her feet.

There were a couple of shots on target from outside the box – including one that forced a fingertip save from Inter goalkeeper, Francesca Durante – while she created a total of four chances.

The Brazilian played with confidence throughout, as seen in the way she outmanoeuvred opponents and tried to test Durante.

There was nothing the Inter keeper could do when Andressa calmly put Roma ahead from the spot, once again taking responsibility to get her 20th goal for the club. She is only the second player (after Annamaria Serturini, another of the team’s attacking sparks on Sunday and, indeed, most weeks) to reach that landmark.

Key Moment

It is often said that scoring just before half-time is one of the most ideal times for a goal. If that is the case, then following it up with another goal just after the break benefits the balance of the game greatly too – and Roma did both.

Giugliano chose quite the style to score Roma’s second, barely three minutes after the re-start. Taking aim from the edge of the box after being assisted by Emilie Haavi, the midfielder launched her shot on course for the top corner, aiming directly from an inside right position.

It increased the cushion Roma were building over their visitors at a critical moment and was typical of the confidence that the whole team was displaying by this point.

For Giugliano, it was the climax of a dominant display in the midfield. The Italian played with intensity alongside the similarly dynamic Giada Greggi, establishing herself as a driving force.

By getting into the areas like she did for the goal, Giugliano caused several problems for Inter thanks to her intelligence and ability.

Key Decision

It is to the credit of the whole squad that during their nine-match winning run in Serie A Femminile, they managed without their captain starting in six games.

Hence, the return of Elisa Bartoli to a starting league lineup for the first time since November could only be a further boost to the team’s momentum. But the position in which she was utilised was different to before, also signalling a shift in the side’s system.

After navigating without left-back Bartoli by using a back three, Alessandro Spugna reverted to a four-player defence for the visit of Inter, using his captain as a centre-back alongside Elena Linari. It allowed Lucia Di Guglielmo, who had often been dropping into the back three in recent games, to cover on the left-hand side of defence, and Angelica Soffia to play on the right.

Both full-backs put in solid performances, with one highlight from Di Guglielmo seeing her make a goal-line recovery to avert an own goal late in the first half, when the score was still 0-0. In general, she and Soffia were tough to get past and also helped things flow in a forward direction.

Then, in the centre of defence, two of Roma’s most experienced players showed their class. What Linari brings to this team is obvious, while Bartoli’s qualities have never been in doubt either – but to show them from a different position, where there can sometimes be more pressure to face, emphasised just how reliable she is.

Key Fact

The performance of the back four as a unit was proven to be especially strong when reflecting on how they restricted their opponents.

Prior to this meeting, Inter had scored in all of their Serie A matches since and including the reverse fixture in October. In total, they went nine league games in a row with at least one goal.

Roma were the ones to put a stop to that – and they did so emphatically. In fact, Inter did not record a single shot on target during the match.

Indeed, the closest Inter came to scoring was probably when Roma’s Di Guglielmo cleared her own diversion away from danger.

Although Inter had more possession, Roma worked hard to ensure they could not do anything of note with it. That effort was apparent across the whole pitch; Paloma Lazaro worked from the front, for example, winning all six of her duels to set out the side’s approach from the top of their formation.

And thanks to Roma’s own, more successful efforts at that end, they earned a vital three points that will spur them on for the challenges that await in March – which have just become of slightly greater significance.

Follow Samuel Bannister on Twitter: @SamBanno1