Been a while since I did a proper match-report, hope you like it
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We really had to struggle for this victory. Lazio had the larger chunk of the chances, but some masterclass in effectivity was enough to get the three points in Rome.
Lazio looked more hungry in the first half but our side was able to look a little more dangerous in the early stages. That being said, we couldn't keep possesion and everyone seemed to be playing for themselves, no mechanisms or any teamplay was to been seen anywhere. Nedved tried, Del Piero was the only one with any visible ball control but other than that, despite a lot of hardworkers, no build-up play whatsoever could be constructed. This really put a lot of unneassasary pressure on our defence, who had to deal with one attack after the other. Often resulting in an isolated Molinaro who had to hoof a poor longball upfront, resulting in more loss of possesion. Lazio didn't look great either, but at least with their movement and a surprisingly good passer in Mutarelli looked threatening with Pandev and Rocchi. These guys have menaced our defence in the past and today was no different.
By chance though we came upfront with a weird, yet typical, Trezeguet goal when he poached on a Salihamidzic attempt to poach. From here on, things got even worse though. Lazio stepped up a gear and continuesly put us under pressure and our midfield kept getting worse and worse in terms of possesion play and movement. Buffon had to keep our side in the game at this point. Nedved's injury didn't help matters, as soon as he went out our entire team seemed to black-out and Lazio soon equalised. Half-time couldn't come soon enough.
Things didn't look up for the second half either, as Nedved could not continue. Ranieri made a smart substition by bringing Tiago in though. Palladino would have been an expected choise, but that would've not seen our bad passing play improve and a continuetion in our individual-based performance would have been a fact. Tiago on the other hand in the playmaker position, added a lot of solid passing and gave the other midfielders a well placed option to give the ball to. The rest of the players looked sharper in the second half as well though. Obviously Ranieri did at least some good work at half-time. Despite our improving teamplay, our goal had to come from some individual class afterall. We executed our counterattack very quickly with a great Zanetti pass to a clinical Del Piero. Trezeguet had the 2-1, after a good Tiago assist, on his foot soon after, but failed to score the great chance. Lazio got back in the game again after this and looked the better of the sides once again, with Buffon.. again.. playing a crucial role for us. Their offensive pressure gave the clever DP too much space and after another magnificent Zanetti pass, DP scored an almost identical goal to kill the game. We decided to sit back and despite some more good chances for Lazio we looked like brining this home, which we did.. despite an unneassary goal gifted to lazio in the final minute.
A not-so great Lazio side was better than us today. Lazio have two very good forwards, but we should never have allowed their midfielders to boss us around like that. We need to start out sharper and learn to keep possesion. We have some very effective forwards(as showcased today), so we don't need to rush our play to create chances. The chances will come, we just need to limit the opponents chances by keeping possesion. Keep possesion and we'll see our play improve and we'll see more chances come with time. A lot of work and room left for improvement yet.
Buffon 7
Top-class goalkeeping, might've won us some points today. Some great positioning and great reflexes. Contender for man of the match.
Zebina 5.5
Not his best game. Didn't look unsolid, but gave little support going forward, was sloppy, a tad slow in his decisions and Rocchi managed to look dangerous through his side a little often.
Legrottaglie 6
The best of our defenders today. Not a great game, but very solid and often had to cover for the mess made by the other defenders. Got away with some fouls, which could've easily been punished though.
Chiellini 5.5
He's been better. Didn't look very sharp today, was out of position in both goals I felt. Had his hands full with Pandev.
Molinaro 5
His second half was decent, but a very poor half. All his passes seemed to go astray and Pandev found most of his space through Molinaro and Chiellini. A shame as he was improving a lot in recent matches.
Salihamidzic 6
Versatile, worked very hard and he was less sloppy than most of his teammates. Also played a crucial role in the first goal. He simply does not offer anything close to Camo's quality from the right or Nedved's quality from the left though. Sali's play is all about hussling opponents.
Nocerino 5.5
Did his usual break-up play and shows so much energy. He really needs to play more careful and precise though, he lost too many balls today. He was a big factor in putting unneassary pressure on our team. As of now, he needs someone to give the ball to after winning it, someone like Tiago.
Zanetti 6.5
His first half was probaly one of his worst this season. He was like a slighty less wild Nocerino. He looked more like his old reliable self in the second half though. That and two amazing assists.
Nedved 6
Looked set to continue his good form of recent weeks, he was the only one in midfield who could offer some quality play. He was all alone in midfield,in the offensive phase, though and was unlucky not to be present in the second. Couldn't really make a difference today.
(Tiago 6.5)
With his entry our passing improved by 200%. He didn't do anything spectacular, but his positiong and his simple precise sharping was missing in the side. Should've been awarded with an assist, but Trezeguet failed to convert.
I'd like him to be more aggresive and more involved, but hey.. you can't ask that with so little playing time.
Trezeguet 6.5
Missed a good chance, but also scored one. Did a lot of work upfront and managed to look dangerous, despite the little service he got.
Del Piero 7.5
Didn't see much of the ball, but he barely did anything wrong with the ball at his feet. Two chances, two goals. Some clinical finishing. Great technique. Topclass performance. Man of the match.
Ranieri 5.5
Too often do we start too weakly the first half, especially in away matches. Ranieri said he wants to do better in away matches, but failing to get our players sharp from the start should be down to him. Same for the lack of gameplan and poor team mechanics, he really has a lot of area's he needs to improve our team. The result saves him, as does the tiago sub, even though it was a forced substitution.
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