It wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t entirely convincing but Roma did what they had to do and came away from Bologna with three points. Going into injury time there was the uneasy feeling that an equaliser was on its way as the home team threatened more and more, and late goals are something that Romanisti have been accustomed to in recent years.
Even this season, Domenico Berardi scored with the last kick of the game to equalise for Sassuolo, and it was very nearly the same story at the Dall’Ara on Saturday. In injury time, Lazaros Christodoulopoulos found space between Mehdi Benatia and Leandro Castan but nodded his free header wide of the post from six yards. Ultimately the result matters more than the performance though, and with Napoli and Fiorentina both dropping points on Monday night Roma’s grip on second place is looking solid.
However the win on Saturday evening was overshadowed by events in the Turin derby. In the words of Il Romanista’s Franco Bovaio, “what are we to write about after what we saw in the derby won by Juventus against Torino?” There is an increasing feeling that for all of Roma’s efforts this season, they are going to be in vain as once again Antonio Conte’s team had the benefit of controversial refereeing decisions.
In the first half Nicola Rizzoli should have sent off Arturo Vidal for a second yellow card, while Andrea Pirlo got away with a foul on Omar El Kaddouri in the penalty area late on (had the penalty been given, as it should have, and Pirlo subsequently been booked, as he should have, Pirlo would be suspended for the trip to Milan). “Two things are certain in life”, wrote one Roma fan on Facebook. “Death and penalties not being given against Juventus”. Rizzoli was even close to the foul and had a clear view of the incident.
Before Roma played Juventus last month, Francesco Totti suggested that the Bianconeri “have always had a little help. Accidental, I hope, but after one, two, ten times you always have to be careful”. Juventus claimed innocence, but the decisions this season alone are mounting up; Chievo had a goal disallowed for offside when Alberto Paloschi was clearly not offside, Tevez’s offside goal in the first game against Torino, a penalty given against Genoa for a foul committed on Kwadwo Asamoah outside the area, Fernando Llorente’s offside goal against Napoli and a penalty not given at the other end – the list goes on.
“Juventus’ strength is often the famous 12th man on the field. It’s on the field though because it’s certainly not the Juve fans”, tweeted Torino forward Riccardo Meggiorini after the derby (he subsequently deleted the tweet). According to panorama.it, who run a league table as it would be without refereeing mistakes, Roma would be top by three points with the Parma game in hand (Roma +6 points, Juventus -6 points).
Now, the amount of credence that can be put in such a table is debatable. But the fact is that without the benefit of the numerous decisions that have gone in the Bianconeri’s favour, Roma would at least be in the title race. The club have remained creditably silent, reinforcing Mauro Baldissoni’s statement last week that “we never enter debates about referees or the authorities”, but the decisions on the pitch as well as the ongoing wrangle in the courts regarding the stadium closure are starting to wear on the supporters.
Protests are now being planned for next Saturday in front of the FIGC offices in via Allegri under the Twitter hashtag #mobasta ahead of the next home game against Inter, and it remains to be seen just how many fans will even be allowed in the Olimpico. Around 30,000 supporters will be unable to enter the stadium due to the closure of both curve and the Distinti Sud, which Roma are continuing to appeal against. A final decision from the High Court on the curve is expected on Tuesday, but there could yet be further sanctions after Romanisti continued anti-Neapolitan chants during the Bologna match.
For the time being all Rudi Garcia and his players can do is focus on themselves and not concern themselves with refereeing decisions or the actions of Baldissoni and lawyer Antonio Conte in the courts. This weekend they have a challenging game at home to Inter before travelling to Napoli a week on Sunday, two key fixtures that will require 100% attention on the task at hand. Roma’s players must keep believing in themselves and ensure they do not become distracted by everything else that is going on around them.
