Italian Serie A: AS Roma claim Derby Della Capitale against Lazio
A.S. Roma defeated Lazio in a feisty Roman derby 2-0 thanks to the penalty double from Boriello and Vucinic.
Roma earned the much needed victory against league leaders Lazio after both Marco Boriello and Mirko Vucinic scored from penalties in the 2nd half.
Former A.C. Milan striker converted a penalty after Stephan Lichsteiner’s hand ball and Mirko Vucinic followed it with another one after Andres Dias had fouled Julio Baptista.
Mirko Vucinic looked in great shape early on and twice came close to send Marco Boriello through on goal but it was Lazio who made the first best chances of the match.
Stefano Mauri beat the offside trap by inches in the 12th minute and crossed low from the left but the ball beat Tommaso Rocchi by a hair’s length. Simone Perotta came close to giving Roma the lead in the 26th minute when he fired a
free kick wide.
Controversy came in just before the interval when Boriello crossed the ball into the box after receiving it from John Arne Riise. Leandro Greco tapped in the pass. But when the substitute turned to celebrate, he saw the offside flag raised by the linesman
but the replay showed that it was a harsh decision.
Boriello could have scored himself but his shot went wide as he was put under pressure by two defenders.
Real drama opened up 5 minutes into the second half when Roma were awarded a penalty. Stephan Lichsteiner reacted to Fabio Simplicio’s hard ball from 25 yards out by raising his hands in front of his face and the referee pointed to the spot. Marco Boriello
stepped up to take the penalty and his left footed attempt wriggled under goalkeeper Muslera’s body.
Lazio had a great opportunity to level things when Mauri sent an excellent high ball to Hernanes who came across a one on one situation with goalkeeper Julio Sergio but as Hernanes took the shot, the keeper managed to block the effort with his feet.
A.S. Roma should have increased the advantage when Fabio Simplicio hit the bar from 10 yards out and the rebound found Vucinic who could not divert his shot in the goal.
Lazio again had a chance to equalize when Mauri was held back strongly by John Riise and it was obvious that it was a foul and a penalty should be awarded but referee Emidio Morganti didn’t point to the spot.
In the 85th minute, the referee did point to the spot but this time, for Roma. Dias pulled down Julio Baptista in the penalty area and Mirko Vucinic stepped up to take the decisive penalty and turned goalkeeper Muslera the wrong way before comfortably
converting the spot kick.
The match result has not affected Lazio that much as they are still the league leaders but for Roma, it was a great result as the 3 points take them to 7th place.
Roma's playmaker, Francesco Totti was overjoyed by his team’s win over their bitter rivals. The Roma captain missed the Derby della Capitale due to suspension but said that it was a great game and they deserved the win.
Speaking about Leandro Greco’s performance, the former Italy international said that he was delighted with the youngster’s performance who grew up in Roma and is born and bred Roman.
Roma coach, Claudio Ranieri was also delighted by his team’s performance and believes that the Roman giants have rediscovered themselves. He added that Roma must continue with this revival as they host Fiorentina in midweek.
Man of the Match = Mirko Vucinic:
The Montenegro international played a great game and was the driving force behind all Roma attacks. He paired up well with Marco Boriello and also scored a goal from the penalty spot.
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