Two points wasted. Not a great match to watch especially in the first half, nevertheless Roma were in control, Genoa hardly able to stop the Giallorossi pushing forward, eventually with El Shaarawy opening the scoring. Thereafter not much trouble until madness happened.
Madness Daniele De Rossi. In the middle of Roma penalty area with nothing happening he decides to pull the shirt of Lapadula causing a silly penalty, then to make the matter worse he slaps him in the face, forgetting about the hundreds of CCTV cameras and the VAR system in place to detect anything these days.
Result: VAR showed it was a clear penalty and a red card for De Rossi, with Lapadula scoring the equaliser. Then, a ten-men Roma nearly won the game denied by another crossbar by Strootman at the end.. Shick found space with 5 mins to go and showed great skills. But in the end, 3 points thrown away.
We need a balanced assessment: while we agree that De Rossi silly move cost Roma 2 points, we also agree he’s had too many similar incidents in his career. So, no doubt he should be punished but cannot be classified as the evil figure of this football club. DDR remains DDR, with his pros and cons, nevrtheless a symbol of AS Roma.
Time to reflect but move on. We have SPAL on Friday and then Qarabag next week. Cannot afford any more distractions. Daje Roma!
Stefano @www.asroma.ie