Roma sealed second place in Serie A, Champions League qualification and city bragging rights all in one night with a hard fought 2-1 win in the Derby Della Capitale.
With Napoli losing 3-1 to Juventus over the weekend, Lazio only needed a point to book a spot in Europe. Starting the brighter of the two sides, it was Miroslav Klose who squandered a golden chance for the lead, heading wide with the goal at his mercy.
In the 73rd minute Roma opened the scoring, after substitute Victor Ibarbo cut the ball back for Juan Manuel Iturbe who was on hand to poke the ball home. Up to this point, the game was largely a low tempo midfield battle, but the goal opened things up and Lazio responded almost immediately, with a headed goal to another substitute, Filip Djordjevic in the 81st minute.
Lazio thought it had done enough to secure a crucial point, but Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa headed home a Miralem Pjanjic cross to give Roma the derby win and qualification to the Champions League.
SS Lazio
Federico Marchetti – 5.5: Untested for most of the game but had no chance to stop either of Roma’s goals.
Stefan de Vrij – 6.5: Classy performance by the Dutchman, neat play out of the back and completely shut down Roma’s talisman Francesco Totti.
Santiago Gentiletti – 5.5: Struggled with the pace of Iturbe in only his second Serie A game back from injury.
Dusan Basta – 6.5: Made many attacking runs and provided good forward pressure on the right hand side, had a good goalscoring chance in the second half.
Senad Lulic – 4.5: Poor game by the Bosnian who committed a number of fouls and was lucky to still be on the field. He was substituted before he could receive a red card.
Stefano Mauri – 4: A very lacklustre performance from the captain. Was hardly seen in the game and was substituted after making little impact.
Felipe Anderson – 5.5: Showed glimpses of creativity but spent large periods of the game absent from the contest. He provided the cross that resulted in the goal.
Marco Parolo – 6: A solid game in midfield where the key battle was mostly fought, he did a lot of good defensive work and spent a lot of time on the ball.
Lucas Biglia – 5: Did not display the energy he has showed in recent games. A hint of not looking 100% fit. He was substituted due to an injury.
Antonio Candreva – 6: Looked dangerous in attack but his final ball and finishing was lacking. Was the one Lazio player who looked likely to create a chance.
Miroslav Klose – 6: Missed a sitter early in the game but kept Roma’s defence busy. Worked hard and provided the assist for Lazio’s goal with a clever header back across the face of goal.
Substitutes
Luis Pedro Cavanda – 5: Brought into the game in the 55th minute and did provide some good attacking runs and energy on the left-hand side. He was caught out of position for Roma’s opening goal.
Filip Djordjevic – 6: Came on for Mauri in the 76th minute and made an immediate impact, heading home from six yards to equalise for Lazio.
Danilo Cataldi – 4: Brought on in the 78th minute for the injured Biglia and was largely uninfluential.
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AS Roma
Morgan De Sanctis – 5.5: Was rarely tested but was solid collecting crosses and loose balls, had no chance to stop the goal.
Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa – 7: Assured performance in defence for Roma, was left marking space for the goal but made amends by scoring the winner with a classy header.
Jose Holebas – 6.5: Managed to keep Candreva’s opportunities to a minimum and got forward while maintained a high work rate.
Vasilis Torosidis – 5: Struggled in the game and in particular when Anderson ran at him, not the best performance.
Kostas Manolas – 5.5: Did not have the best game. His passing out of the back was ordinary and at times was found out of position.
Radja Nainggolan – 6.5: Was excellent at providing run out of defensive positions and his strong running was particularly effective against a tired Lazio late in the second half.
Daniele De Rossi – 7: A passionate and hard-working display De Rossi was Roma’s anchor in midfield, a strong performance by the vice captain.
Seydou Keita – 5.5: Looked slow and off the pace when the tempo of the game changed in the second half.
Juan Iturbe – 7.5: Man of the match performance for the young Argentine forward. His pace caused the Lazio defence a lot of problems and he was on hand to poke home the opening goal.
Francesco Totti – 4.5: Had little impact in a game where he usually stars. Struggled being the lone man up-front and was substituted early in the second-half.
Alessandro Florenzi – 6.5: His pace caused Lulic a number of problems and maintained a high work rate for most of the game. He was able to get behind the Lazio defence on multiple occasions.
Substitutes
Victor Ibarbo – 6.5: Missed a sitter from just on the penalty spot from a corner but provided the run and clever cut back for the opening goal. Dangerous from the moment he came on in the 61st minute.
Miralem Pjanjic – 7: Despite being on the field for only 22 minutes of normal time, this substitution was the catalyst for the change in tempo of the game. Provided crosses and run from the minute he was on the field and was involved in the build-up for the first goal and whipped in the cross for the winner.
Seydou Doumbia – N/A: Brought on in the 85th minute for tactical reasons.
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