ROME, Italy – Gian Piero Gasperini got his first taste of Derby della Capitale success as Roma beat Lazio 1-0 at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday evening, securing a hard-fought victory in one of Italian football’s most heated rivalries.
The atmosphere was electric as these fierce rivals met for the 163rd time in Serie A. The opening 15 minutes was full of heavy challenges with both teams more interested in kicking lumps out of each other than creating chances. Former Roma player Pedro had the first real opportunity, firing over from the edge of the box before setting up Nuno Tavares who also shot over.
Roma was struggling to get anything going in attack while Lazio looked more dangerous. Mile Svilar had to tip Mattia Zaccagni’s effort over the bar, then Andrea Romagnoli powered a header just over from the resulting corner kick.
But Roma took the lead completely against the run of play on 38 minutes and the Curva Sud went absolutely mental. Devyne Rensch robbed Tavares in his own penalty box which let Matías Soulé pick out Lorenzo Pellegrini for a lovely first-time finish into the bottom corner. It was exactly what the home fans needed after a pretty poor first half performance.
Roma nearly doubled their lead right before halftime when Angeliño’s cross got flicked on by Evan Ferguson, but Ivan Provedel made a great save to stop Rensch from tapping in at the back post.
The second half started with Roma attacking toward their loud supporters and Angeliño had a decent chance when he met a cross at the back post, but Provedel tipped his half-volley into the side netting. Then Lazio had a golden opportunity to equalize 10 minutes after the break when substitute Danilo Cataldi played Boulaye Dia clean through on goal, but the striker completely lost his composure with only Svilar to beat and wasted the chance.
As the game went past the hour mark, Lazio started putting more and more pressure on Roma. The Curva Nord was getting louder and their team nearly got the equalizer with about 15 minutes left. Valentín Castellanos curled an effort from just inside the box that looked like it took a deflection off Gianluca Mancini, but somehow it went wide and the referee only gave a goal kick.
Lazio’s momentum got killed off on 85 minutes when substitute Reda Belahyane got a straight red card for raking his studs down Manu Koné’s calf. It was a nasty challenge that the referee had to punish.
Even with 10 men Lazio kept pushing for an equalizer and Svilar had to make a late save from Castellanos. Then Cataldi thought he’d scored when his curling shot hit the join of post and crossbar – he was already celebrating before he realized it hadn’t gone in.
Roma held on though to secure their third win in four derbies against their city rivals. Matteo Guendouzi got sent off after the final whistle for losing his temper, which summed up how frustrated Lazio was with the result.
