One of the biggest football cliches has to be a game of two halves, but the 141st Serie A Derby della Capitale between Roma and Lazio proved that cliches can sometimes be true.
The Rome derby is perhaps the most passionate and talked-about fixture in Italy with victories and defeats becoming the stuff of legend, while a good performance against the eternal rivals can make a player’s career.
Despite being compared to Cristiano Ronaldo by Sinisa Mihajlovic after he tore his Sampdoria side apart last Monday, Lazio starlet Felipe Anderson still spoke of his “anxiety” at the prospect of making his derby debut in the Brazilian media earlier this week.
Having endured a frustrating first twelve months in Italy following his €8 million move from Santos, the 21-year-old has come to terms not just with the pressure on his shoulders, but with his role in the team, taking full advantage of Antonio Candreva’s absence in recent weeks.
Not showing the traits commonly associated with a footballer racked with self-doubt, the Brazilian was essential as Lazio broke the deadlock dispossessing Radja Nainggolan in midfield and bursting forward to set up Stefano Mauri with a brilliant ball over the Roma defence.
Just five minutes later “FA7” confirmed his arrival with five goals and five assists in as many games as he fired a low shot at the near post from the edge of the box.
But as the aforementioned cliche goes, the second-half only belonged to Roma and Francesco Totti as the player seventeen years his junior faded and was withdrawn for Ogenyi Onazi after 65 minutes.
Felipe Anderson may have needed time to adjust to life in the capital, but Francesco Totti with seven generations of Roman blood pumping through his veins certainly did not.
Born in the Giallorossi stronghold Porto Metronic area in the heart of the city, Totti first burst on to the scene in 1994, turning the Aquile defence inside out to win a penalty that his idol Giuseppe Giannini failed to convert in a 1-0 loss to Lazio.
Fans of Roma call their club ‘La Roma de noantri’ – the Roma that belongs to us – because so many of the Lupi’s players, past and present, were born and bred in the city.
This pride was clear in the superb Curva Sud choreography that honoured Roma’s captains and talismanic players through the ages beginning with Attilio Ferraris IV and Amedeo Amadei to Daniele De Rossi and Totti today.
Romans demand their heroes to be brash, colourful and preferably scorers. Totti fulfilled this brief, as he became Roma’s all-time top scorer in the derby in Serie A with 11 goals, matching Dino Da Costa’s record.
Unable to exert his influence throughout the first-half, the captain halved the gap just three minutes after the break with a side-footed finish at the back post following a perfect delivery from substitute Kevin Strootman.
The veteran also showed his colourful side celebrating with a selfie in front of the Curva Sud with the Giallorossi fans behind him after he acrobatically flew in again at the back post to volley a Jose Holebas cross from the tightest of angles past Federico Marchetti to level the match at 2-2.
“I thought about it during the week,” the 38-year-old explained referring to the selfie to Sky Sport Italia after the match.
“There is this fashion for selfies now and I like to keep my private life to myself, but this was a unique opportunity that would never be repeated. It was my phone and I asked [Roma goalkeeping coach] Guido Nanni to bring it to me if I scored.”
