De Rossi Flies: A New Discovery

In today’s clash for the 26th matchday of the 2023-2024 Serie A season, Roma managed to secure a 3-2 victory over Torino. This success can largely be attributed to an outstanding performance by Dybala, who delivered a hat-trick. This marks the fifth win for Roma under the leadership of De Rossi in just six days. The victory sees Roma’s tally advance to 44 points, just two points shy of Atalanta. The chase for the fourth position, currently held by Bologna with 48 points, continues. Torino, on the other hand, remains stagnant at 36 points.

Detailed Overview of the Match

The match kicked off with an aggressive approach from the visiting team. The visitors were quick to threaten, first with Ricci and then with Zapata. On both occasions, Smalling came to Roma’s rescue, first by getting ahead of the Granata midfielder and then by deflecting the shot from the Colombian attacker. In the 9th minute, the home team found a significant opportunity to score when Azmoun moved towards the goal. He then served a ball to Kristensen in the area, but Kristensen’s shot hit the post. Torino showed its dangerous side in the 17th minute, capitalizing on a ball lost by Svilar. The Granata retrieved the ball high and passed it to Sanabria, who shot from the edge of the area. However, Smalling managed to deflect the shot at the last moment, resulting in a corner.

As the game approached the half-hour mark, Ricci nearly scored. Bellanova delivered a cross from the right and found Ricci in the center-left of the area. Ricci volleys, but the ball went just wide of the near post. The deadlock was broken in the 42nd minute. Roma skillfully worked the ball in the midfield, and Cristante passed the ball to Azmoun. Sazonov, who was behind him, hit him late, just inside the area. The referee awarded Roma a penalty, which Dybala confidently converted, making the score 1-0. Roma’s joy was short-lived as Torino managed to equalize within two minutes. Bellanova delivered a cross from the right and found Zapata in the center of the area. Zapata’s header found the far post, resulting in a goal and an equal scoreline of 1-1.

Starting the second half, in the 3rd minute, Lazaro received a pass from Vlasic, took a shot from a tight angle, and forced Svilar to make a diving save. Roma took the lead once again in the 12th minute with another spectacular goal from Dybala. The Argentine player received the ball twenty-five meters out and took a splendid left-footed shot that found the far post. Milinkovic-Savic was helpless, and the score moved to 2-1. At the 19th minute mark, De Rossi made a triple substitution, with Angelino, Paredes, and Azmoun making way for Spinazzola, Bove, and Lukaku.

Dybala completed his hat-trick in the 24th minute: He exchanged passes with Lukaku, who passed the ball to the left of the area, and Dybala scored with a low, diagonal left-footed shot, making it 3-1. In the 37th minute, Dybala showed his creativity by delivering an assist with his weaker right foot to Bove. Sazonov was quick to react and managed to deflect the ball into a lateral foul. In the 43rd minute, Okereke posed a threat with a right-footed shot, but Svilar saved it with a dive. Just a minute later, Torino managed to narrow the gap when Huijsen deflected Ricci’s low cross shot into his own goal. In the final, highly contested minutes of the match, Roma successfully defended their lead, securing three critical points in their pursuit of a Champions League spot.