It's the night of first times. From Santiago Castro to Emanuele Lulli, one goal each, the first for both in the Giallorossi shirt and with a decidedly different weight than others, because it comes after the Champions League nightmare with Real Madrid experienced not even three nights ago. Roma had to chase away the ghosts of an evening that ended up slipping from heaven into hell and to do so they needed a victory against another former player, Daniele De Rossi.
Genoa, however, held out for a while, then lost 2-0 in the second half despite Gasperini making huge changes compared to Wednesday. On the other hand, he had already said it after the Champions League and then reiterated it on the eve of the match against Genoa: "We will need everyone". And so there are seven changes compared to the lineup seen against the 'Blancos', because the only confirmed players are Gollini, Ndicka, De Roon and Soulé. Then in Koulierakis, Balerdi, Lulli, Rensch, Mora and Castro. A massive turnover also dictated by the many forced absences (four due to injury and one due to disqualification, that of Malen). Many changes that also affect the game, particularly in the first half, when there are many errors in the middle of the pitch and the partial remains 0-0. There is just one emotion to note on each side with Balerdi's crossbar from a corner kick and El Shaarawy's with the shot from outside that had put Gollini completely offside.
In the second half the eleven on the pitch were the same, but the attitude changed, because Roma needed just five minutes to take the lead with Castro's magic.
Spiraling ball from a corner, the quickest to harpoon it is the Argentine who then turns and mocks Bijlow with an outside lob to make it 1-0. Shortly afterwards the first substitutions were made for the Giallorossi with Gasp bringing on Hermoso and Pellegrini, finding the 2-0 midway through the second half. This time it is Lulli who is on the scoresheet, good at being in the right place and at the right time after a personal action by Soulé which leads to the goal. As for Castro, it is a first time for him too, with the doubling that chases away the fears of a night, that of the Champions League, which could have left some consequences. Yet Roma starts again, remaining in Inter's wake and waiting for Lazio against Juventus. So at the final whistle the applause goes all for the Giallorossi team and also for De Rossi, because over twenty years of Roma certainly cannot be erased by sitting on the opposing bench. Greeted with a standing ovation at the beginning and with a chorus at the end, but in the meantime Roma restarts waiting for the transfer market to help the coach in January. "Surely, as the coach said well yesterday, to face certain competitions and be able to compete in matches like those on Wednesday, to have an excellent championship and confirm ourselves by arriving in the Champions League, we will need to reach another step and add a little something", the words of D'Amico. "We tried this summer and we didn't succeed for various reasons, but we work every day, we know what our objectives are and we will do everything we can to improve ourselves - he added -. Our policy is to take strong players, this is the first thing. The second is that when we buy a player, on loan or permanently, there are various options we can include. Clearly, as Roma, we would always like and want to have the possibility, then at the end of the championship, to be able to keep who we are going to take on loan, so this is the line."
