The derby belongs to AS Roma. Mancini gives the Giallorossi the victory

After four consecutive derbies won by Lazio, AS Roma returns to win the derby
Gianluca Mancini, man of the match, scored his fourth league goal. A very important fact given his role as central defender
Gianluca Mancini, man of the match, scored his fourth league goal. A very important fact given his role as central defender / Insidefoto/GettyImages
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First Rome derby for both coaches.

The Lazio coach, Igor Tudor, has never experienced the sensations of the Rome derby before whereas his colleague, Daniele De Rossi, has experienced many of them in his different role as a Giallorossi footballer.

In any case, a few minutes into the match and it was AS Roma who became dangerous with a long-range shot from Argentine midfielder Leandro Paredes which just missed the mark.

The Giallorossi immediately started strong, pushed by their supporters.

As a result, the Lazio players began to take measures and tried to respond with their striker Ciro Immobile whose close-range shot, however, was not at all accurate.

Shortly afterwards there is a free kick in favor of the Giallorossi and following the development of the same a shot by defender Diego Llorente risked becoming an own goal following an uncoordinated intervention by the Lazio defender.

In this first part of the match, AS Roma prevailed in terms of resourcefulness, whereas Lazio preferred not to press high, therefore waiting to recover the ball and then attempting to start again on a quick counterattack.

The Giallorossi once again became dangerous with a long-range shot from captain Lorenzo Pellegrini which was saved in two stages by the opposing goalkeeper.

Lazio was therefore in obvious difficulty, so much so that AS Roma scored the opening goal.

In the 42nd minute, from a corner kick taken very well by Paulo Dybala, the header came from defender Gianluca Mancini who managed to free himself from the marking of his opponent, Alessio Romagnoli, and therefore finished victoriously on goal bringing the his team ahead.

An intense first half ended which showed the greater determination of AS Roma, rewarded by the goal that arrived in the final minutes.

The teams' two offensive forward were not at all incisive up to that point.

Daniele De Rossi
Daniele De Rossi has had a fantastic impact on the AS Roma bench. He has lost only one match so far, against Inter, and has brought the team close to fourth place in the championship / Silvia Lore/GettyImages

The second half resumed without changes for AS Roma while Lazio coach, Igor Tudor, changed the two attackers, Immobile and Isaksen, replacing them with Valentin Castellanos and Pedro respectively.

Shortly after the start Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku was fouled and a dangerous free kick was awarded.

Specialist Lorenzo Pellegrini took the free kick and his shot ended just over the crossbar.

The Giallorossi continued to show greater liveliness. First with an initiative by Paulo Dybala who dribbled past two opponents but then was unable to assist his attacking partner Lukaku; subsequently with Stephan El Shaarawy who, served in depth by Lukaku, managed to get a shot with his left foot, however only hitting the post.

Lazio, evidently shaken by the risk taken, tried to make themselves more dangerous with a shot from substitute Castellanos who found the opposing goalkeeper prepared.

Subsequently, a good collective action by the Giallorossi led the right back Celik to cross low into the penalty area where Lukaku almost reached the ball.

Once the hour of play was over, the Biancocelesti have nothing left but to dare.

So the team began to raise its center of gravity and modify its tactical structure.

These moves immediately yielded results.

In fact, Lazio found the equalizer with Japanese midfielder Daichi Kamada who returned Matteo Guendouzi's long-range shot into the net from just a few passes away.

However, VAR nullified what happened due to Kamada's offside position.

In the last half hour of the match there was a tense atmosphere, as indeed seems to be an unfailing constant of this iconic match.

In fact, numerous game clashes were sanctioned with a yellow card by the match referee who also attempted on several occasions to calm the boiling spirits of the protagonists on the playing field.

However, the Biancocelesti continued to attack while the Giallorossi were able to defend themselves with concentration, not allowing any space.

Of note were the returns to the pitch for AS Roma, after a prolonged period of absence due to injury, of Chris Smalling and Tammy Abraham who made an important contribution in maintaining the one-goal lead.

Next. SS Lazio. Host Lazio defeats slumping Juventus at the death. dark

During the post-match celebration by the AS Roma players, the celebration of Gianluca Mancini, who waved a flag depicting a mouse in the colors of Lazio, provoked various criticisms.