Lo Scrivano's Monday Editorial: The Thrills And Spills Of The Rome Derby
WEEKEND HIGHLS
Derby Specialist 'Supermarco": Marco Delvecchio has not seen too much action of late and in fact the Romanista had not scored a single goal this season when he took to the pitch on Sunday evening. Yet, he was to do what he does every derby…score! Yesterday, 'Supermarco' wrote his name in the record books by becoming the highest scorer for Roma in the Rome derbies with 9 strikes. But, surely there is more to this man than just these two fixtures in the calendar year. Only time will tell how much action he will see with the likes of Montella, Batistuta, Totti and Cassano in the squad, but he is perhaps rather under-utilised considering Roma's goal-shy start to the season.
Back With A Bang: It was a pretty good weekend for three famed strikers of Serie A for varying, yet similar reasons. Marcelo Salas, Oliver Bierhoff and Andriy Shevchenko all scored what can be called vital goals for different reasons.
Despite signing for Juve well over one year ago, former Lazio 'goleador', Salas had yet to net his first goal from open play in a bianconeri shirt. So, this weekend's winner against Udinese prompted a huge personal milestone for El Matador, who hopes that this is a start to what will be a successful career at the Delle Alpi.
Former Milan striker Oliver Bierhoff had seemingly disappeared from the face of the earth for a while, but announced his return with a bang when he headed home a trademark goal to down his former club at the Bentegodi. Not only did Olly get back to doing what he does best, but he can be proud to be part of a team that brought the flying rossoneri back down to earth.
Andriy Shevchenko started his first Serie A game this season and while he can rue the fact that his team lost, the Ukrainian did get on the score sheet with a superb header. Milan may have slipped up after the glorious start, but that Sheva is back and ready to wreak havoc is rather sombre news for their rivals.
WEEKEND LOWS
A Comed-erb-y of Errors: One of the greatest rivalries in world football kicked off at the Olympico in Rome in what would be a fantastically contested match between Lazio and Roma. However, while most derbies are characterized by their passion and aggressiveness, this one will be remembered for the numerous defensive errors that kept turning the game on its head. Jonathan Zebina in particular was a joke on the night and his buddies, Messrs samuel and panucci, will probably have nightmares for months to come after seeing what their French colleague is capable (or not capable) of.
Stefano Fiore's opener and Gabriel Batistuta's strike, both game from rather horrendous yet comical blunders. Zebina was at fault on the first one, hammering the ball in front of his own goal (and straight to the feet of Fiore) when it was clearly headed out. And later in the game, Fernando Couto tried to outdo his Roma colleague by supplying Batistuta with a wonderful through ball that was intended for Peruzzi. Zebina was also at fault on two other occasions that could easily have been goals including the penalty miss by Mihajlovic. All in all, a rather amusing tension-reliever in such a tense derby J.
Relegation Beckons? : It's getting gloomier by the day for the two bottom clubs of Serie A. True, with only six weeks gone, there is lot of time left to salvage a season. But, for Torino and Atalanta, the road ahead looks rather bumpy. The granata have collected one win and five losses so far this season and Vavassori's nerazzurri have managed only a draw and five losses. Torino seemed to have turned things around last week when they scraped together their first points of the season, but the sudden sacking of Giancarlo Camolese has probably worsened the situation in the granata camp. Giovanni Vavassori meanwhile, is living on the edge himself and now it is only a matter of time before he shall join Camolese on the unemployment list.
TACTICAL SPOTLIGHT
Don Fabio's Error Costs Roma: In a fantastically contested Rome derby, Lazio rescued the points after going down 2-1. But most people will agree that it was Roma who were lucky to walk away with a point. Put aside the penalty miss from Mihajlovic and Lazio were the better side (even if just by a yard). However, much of that credit should go to Fabio Capello and his rather poor decision in the middle of the second half. Giallorossi skipper, Francesco Totti has often lectured in the past about the fire and passion that one must have to win the Rome derby. Fabio Capello showed yesterday that he had none of it. Despite screaming insults at his players, his strategy reflected more cowardice than valour and hence the two points lost, and not a point gained.
When Couto gifted Batistuta what was then the lead, Capello completely misjudged the trend of the game. Right then, many would have applauded him for this brilliant foresight in substituting the less effective Montella with Batistuta. But then, the former Real Madrid and Milan manager substituted derby hero Marco Delvecchio for a defender Luigi Sartor while Mancini had just thrown on an extra forward and completely ruined his own game plan. Roma were bogged down in their own half as the sole striker, Batistuta was well contained by the Lazio defence and Roma eventually conceded the equalizer. Sartor was invisible to say the least and Supermarco was sorely missed (if for nothing else than his presence, which must be ominous for a side he relentlessly scores against). Perhaps the result could have been different had both Montella and Delvecchio not been subbed.
MANAGERIAL SPOTLIGHT
Del Neri To The Rescue: Who will stop Milan? Who will stop Milan? Luigi Del Neri answered the call of Europe and the call of the Hitzfields and Iruretas. Chievo swept past Milan at the Bentegodi on Saturday (even if the score line may not reflect so) to convince the lesser teams of Serie A that Ancelotti's men were not unbeatable. What great tacticians of bigger European tams could not decipher, Del Neri did. The Flying Donkeys' manager completely nullified the creative rossoneri midfield and as a result his team did what no other team had done before…score first. The rossoneri had scored first in every single game they had played prior to Saturday and undoubtedly could not react to going down. Del Neri's men were physical and relentless and cheered on by their home crowed they forced the attack-minded Milan midfield to defend. The classic 4-4-2 worked like a charm, just like it had for Roberto Mancini at the Olympico. Only, this time Milan were not spared. 2-0 down at one time and 3-1 at another, they simply could not bounce back and Del Neri had successfully pulled off what can be called the shock of the season (so far at least). Not a surprise anymore if you've been following these fellas.
Did you see what Totti did to him?!!....That's nasty!
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