Roma defeated Cesena 2-0 at the Stadio Olimpico on Wednesday evening in their midweek Serie A fixture.
Mattia Destro slotted in a Gervinho cross early on before Cesena pushed for an unlikely equaliser. Daniele De Rossi slotted in late on to make it a much more comfortable win for the Giallorossi than it looked.
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Roma
Lukasz Skorupski – 6 – Untroubled
Showed safe hands to come and collect most crosses as the away side pushed on in the second 45 minutes.
Vasileios Torisidis – 6 – Adventurous
The Greek’s adventure and pace created the first goal as he stormed down the right to feed Gervinho who crossed. He became sloppy in possession in the second half.
Kostas Manolas – 7 – Solid
Relatively untroubled for the most part but when Cesena continued to break on the defender stood firm.
Davide Astori – 6 – Unfortunate
Subbed after 50 minutes after an injury scare that looks to keep him out of a trip to Naples this weekend. Unfortunate after a recent return from another injury.
Ashley Cole – 6 – Assertive
The majority of his match was in the opposition’s half but when he needed to defend in the second 45, he stood up to the test.
Seydou Keita – 6 – Tidy
Keita struggled to stamp his authority on the game in the Roma midfield but put in a tidy display against Cesena. The former Barcelona man was in the shadow of his midfield counterparts.
Daniele De Rossi – 7 – Vital
The captain for the night gave Pjanic a base in which to conduct in the first half. He also consolidated the win for Roma with their second goal, poaching with ten minutes to go.
Miralem Pjanic – 8 – Conductor
He was all over the attacking half in the opening 45 minutes and looked the most likely to make something happen as Roma struggled to get the second goal.
Gervinho – 7 – Problematic
Pace, guile and enthusiasm are what have made Gervinho a hit in Rome. His early cross put the opening goal on a plate for Destro and he continued to trouble the Cesena defence.
Mattia Destro – 7 – Scorer
Scored, had a goal disallowed and sent a shot wide in the first half. The poacher could have easily had a hat trick on another day but scored again to keep Roma’s pressure on Juventus.
Juan Iturbe – 5 – Struggled
Had a poor first half where he struggled to make an impact. Replaced by Florenzi just after half time.
Substitutes
Alessandro Florenzi – 5 – Quiet
It wasn’t for the want of trying but Florenzi struggled to make an impact, just like Iturbe before him.
Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa – 5 – Clean
Replaced the injured Astori and managed to keep the clean sheet.
Radja Naingollan – N/A
A couple of shots but not much time to make any impact.
Cesena
Federico Agliardi – 6 – Stopper
Made a fantastic save in the second half and a further one from Destro in the first half. Had no chance with the Destro goal which ultimately settled the game.
Danielle Capelli – 5 – Troubled
Struggled to adapt to the pace early on as Torosidis and Gervinho exploited him for the opening goal. Continued to struggle to make an impact as Gervinho ran riot around the entire pitch.
Stefano Lucchini – 5 – Adapted
Struggled to keep tabs on Destro and most of the Roma attack to begin with but adapted later on as Cesena pushed for a late equaliser that wasn’t to be.
Massimo Volta – 6 – Solid
Made a vital stop as half time drew closer to stop Iturbe setting up Gervinho for a tap in. He didn’t put a foot wrong for the rest of the half as Roma struggled to carry on the first half form.
Francesco Renzetti – 5 – Average
Looked adventurous but his delivery to the front men was hindered by the away team sitting so deep in the first half. His crossing continued to go astray.
Hordur Magnusson – 6 – Overrun
Was over run in midfield as Roma dominated that department. He set up Hugo Almeida at 1-0 to bury a header for an equaliser but the forward did not do the Icelandic international’s pass justice.
Luigi Giorgi – 5 – Invisible
Quiet and failed to make an impact like the majority of midfield against Roma. He was substituted late on.
Gieuseppe De Feudis – 5 – Struggled
Struggled to make any kind of impact at the Olimpico but managed to put is foot on the ball a bit more in the second half.
Manuel Coppola – 6 – Indecisive
Looked to link up with whoever was up front for the away side but with Cesena sitting quite deep, Coppola failed to find a killer ball to gain the played for point in Rome.
Davide Succi – 4 – Isolated
Looked isolated up top with Djuric and starved of service and was subbed after 50 minutes. Didn’t have the energy to trouble Astori and Manolas.
Milan Djuric – 5 – Isolated
Struggled to get anything together with strike partner Succi in the first half as Roma dominated. Substituted.
Substitutes
Gregoire Defrel – 5 – Improvement
Looked a huge improvement over Succi after coming on. Held the ball up well and tried linking with Almeida but to no avail.
Hugo Almeida – 5 – Missed
The Portugal international missed a superb chance to give Cesena an equaliser with 15 minutes to go as his header went just wide of goal.
Luca Garritano – N/A
Came on late on with no chance to make a mark.
