Roma v That Other Team That Cheated Liveblog

By: chris | March 21st, 2009

Roma 1 – Juventus 4

Always, sadly, the result. They simply were too decimated.

GAME

Adrian Stoian – Romanian attacking mid/striker – comes on for Miko. 17 years old and looks every bit the part.

90′ D’Alessandro with another quick run but brought down by Mellberg. Kid has some serious pace about him.

89′ Nothing going. Just waiting for that whistle and the chance at 2 weeks of much needed rest.

86′ Holy shite. D’Alessandro just roasting both Chiellini and Molinaro and fires into Buffon for the save. Quite the first step acceleration on him.

I guess this kid is the talent, eh.

84′ At this point, I just want one thing: a goal from either D’Alessandro or Montella. That’s all.

D’Alessandro coming on for Menez.

80′ And Marco D’Alessandro, supposedly the next great attacking hope, about to come on.

Corner…Montella bike is too soft and Juve break. Stopped.

79′ Menez passes it to precisely no one as Montella (I think) moves left as Yeremy thinks right. Little understanding in the side right now.

77′ Menez two foots Nedved. Atta boy. He’s learning. (Yellow card, however.)

73′ Montella turns in the box but his shot is stuffed and Roma have nothing working right now.

Mexes about to punch Del Piero in the face. This is going well.

Merdaved 4-1. One of them days…

71′ Menez attempts to play hero but it doesn’t work as Juve stick about twelve men in his way. Baptista with a gopher hunter, goes left.

I vote D’Alessandro in for him. The Atomic Fetus coming off for Marchionni.

69′ Molinaro yellow for climbing up Montella’s arse. Here comes Queen Nedved.

68′ Riise gets a delayed yellow for a foul in the 46th. Mellberg…3-1.

66′ Nedved warming up in swim cap.

Mexes eaily dispossesses Del piero…Menez down the other end….Baptista fouled clearly but no call. What year is this?

65′ Riise saves a sure fourth with a sliding interception in the box. Absolutely immense once again. Bargain of the window for Roma, surely.

63′ Riise now playing CB with Tonetto at LB, Menez on the right, Mirko on the left and Montella up top.

61′ Juve 3v2………..Riise clears it off the line. For all the shit he took earlier in the season, he’s become a star in the last few months.

Montella for Loria. I’ve long had a feeling this game has Montella’s name written all over it for a heroic return to the plaudits of the Sud…

Speaking of plaudits….well done, Loria, who has been hurt.

Brighi fouled by Giovinco, dangerous free kick upcoming from the right….the Roma U12 team is warming up on the sidelines….Menez on it….Mexes’ header deflected up and over. Another corner.

59′ The Atomic Fetus creates some space nicely but easily saved by Doni….back at the other end it’s Mirko who’s stripped and Loria saves an over the top ball from a Juve break nicely.

56′ Mirko with a Baptista-esque touch in the box and Chiellini easily clears it for a corner…..Iaquinta clears it out, looked almost a hand ball there (is Moggi in the stadium?).

And….2-1. Iaquinta with his second. A fucking deflection, of all things, to Iaquinta who just needs a simple tap in with the head.

That required a quick image change.

52′ But credit for that goal also has to go to Menez: He won the corner with his burst of speed and then sent in the cross. Well done, lad.

50′ So, uh, who wants to sub in the Primavera kids now?

I just can’t get over this. Loria against Juve. Who would’ve thunk it? And it required a bit of technique, too. What a legend.

No matter the outcome of this game, Juve just conceded a goal to the worst defender in Serie A. How do you feel? What a joke.

I don’t care how shit you are, Simone. I love you.

And Yeremy waltzes into the box again from the flank. Clearly they read this post during halftime. Cornern….GOOOOOOOOOOL. SIMONE FUCKING LORIA. HOLY SHIT.,

47′ Nice ball by Menez for Tonetto, who was back on the left, and his diving shot is deflected out for a corner. Menez taking…headed out.

I’d say no changes but really, what was Spalletti going to do?

SECOND HALF

And back onto the pitch they come.

This has always been the most likely of circumstances. They’re putting in the effort but the quality simply is not there, making it look just what it is: a patchwork side of eleven players on the pitch, far from a team. Frankly, Juventus should be winning and they are. So that’s that.

HALFTIME

47′ The Atomic Fetus dives into Brighi from behind. Foul.

46′ Tonetto does some wonderful work to create space for a cross but he’s on the right and that’s just not his foot, putting it into the side netting.

44′ Bap passes it right to a black and white boot. How much do you suppose Genoa would pay for him? 30m? A derby must be at least worth that.

43′ Menez really needs to be utilized more on the flanks here. They can’t power through centrally and this at least disrupts Juve’s shape a bit when he eventually wins his space.

41′ Riise takes one in the man parts. Be well my son. Corner….Giovinco’s eventual shot goes high and wide.

Mexes yellow and he’s pissed. So both CB’s will yellow before the half? Sounds about right.

39′ Mirko one-times an unexpected shot and deflects just wide for a corner…cleared and back into Roman possession for Filipe’s shiny ass boots.

36′ lazy cross in by Panucci but Menez eventually winds up with a chance and skims it across the goal.

35′ Brighi lofts it to absolutely no one, which is suddenly the theme of the day.

34′ Roma break……Max fires it at Julio who for once isn’t to blame for his granite touch.

Juve score. Iaquinta 1-0.

31′ Menez kicked in the back of the head and Iaquinta also down for some unknown reason.

I love this. Menez is fine, clearly just needs to be checked for blood, etc but the cart still rolls to the touchline. Is this how devastatingly bad things are these days? Any injury looks cart-worthy?

30′ Loria sleepily taps the ball back to Doni. Only problem is Iaquinta was one step away from making it 1-0. Excellent. (Mexes does it often, but still.)

29′ Baptista molested delicately by Tiago, yellow for the Portuguese one.

28′ John Arne Riise just tried to make a run centrally through Juve’s back line on a break. It’s come to this, I see. JAR: Everyman.

Fantastic, the cart is out on the pitch. Appears to be the lower back/upper buttock area. Mirko walks off gingerly under his own power.

26′ Juve corner….amounts to zilch, thankfully.

Vuci takes a harmless shot toward Buffon and now he’s down grasping something. Wonderful.

24′ Loria yellow for a “professional foul” as Giovinco is breaking.

He sucks, but I genuinely want him to do well.

And then Menez is fouled for reals.

23′ Menez: I am Jacques Cousteau!

22′ The Atomic Fetus chokes in the box, Bap fouled.

21′ Panucci longball. Bet that missed move to Hull City hurt him a great bit.

20′ Felipe with a cheeky touch to win some space in possession and Baptista, of course, hands it right over to Rubentus arms.

19′ Salihamsandwich takes a shot, Curva Sud boo him mercilessly. Welcome.

18′ Ugh, begging chance on goal for Roma. Riise in clear in the box and Juve had too many numbers in the box for a Roman to get a clear shot, stuffed by The Mask.

17′ What’s the over/under on fouls/offsides/whistles on Mirko today? +/- 413.5?

14′ Del Piero whips in a cross from Curva Sud, harmlessly cleared out before play heads down the other end.

The Atomic Fetus fouls Mexes. Betcha didn’t expect to hear that today.

13′ Menez comes in from behind on The Atomic Fetus with an attacking midfielder’s challenge. In other words: close to a card.

11′ Brighi bundled by The Atomic Fetus, another Roma free kick.

9′ Corner Roma…nothing does, Roma stifle the counter….back in possession…Mirko offside Pippo-style. He may have been playing Buffon’s shoulder there.

7′ Filipe chips to no one, ball eventually winds up with Buffon.

By the by, it’s looking like a bit more of a 4-4-2 in the early going with Max on the right and Yeremy on the left.

6′ Christian fucking Panucci is dribbling through Juve’s midfield. Hang your heads in shame.

5′ We’ve now crossed five minutes and Simone Loria hasn’t made me want to end my life. Nothing short of miraculous.

4′ Tonetto handball down near the box. Chiellini looks like the deputy to a superhero tonight with the mask and black and white stripes. Read into that what you will.

3′ Long ball to Vuci that Buffon nearly bobbles up for a 1-0. Salihamsandwich goes down unsurprisingly. Nedved wears off. At least Menez won’t be alone tonight.

1′ Early cross in to the box headed out and Riise one times it well left. You keep them comin’, Johnny boy.

KICKOFF

Entering the pitch….

Panucci with the band. What does that say to Brighi? Yeesh.

I’m quite nervous about Filipe’s starting debut this season – he was, after all, just signed on a free after injuries put his career in jeopardy – but he has a chance to be a real legend here today. The expectations are absolutely nil and if he turns in a good performance, or even a goal, during a win against the original ladri….

MyP2P or Atdhe.net for streams or FSC stateside, which I’ll be liveblogging from (or maybe delayedblogging, as it were).

This is going to be a liveblog. At some point. At the moment I’ve taken to clicking my RomaNews bookmark before darting my eyes quickly from range of the screen. I’m looking for the Roman lineup, but then again I’m not. I want to see it, and yet I don’t. It’s not so much the impending aura of doom I dread, in fact quite the opposite. It’s hope I fear. A lineup that, on paper, begins to churn about the inner most workings of the optimistic eye. The one that says, “hey, this might not be so bad…”

No, I don’t want that. I want the pain. I want to swallow that bitter, bitter pill. I want my head buried in my hands. I want to take a long, scalding hot pre-game shower where I overdramatically flop myself against the granite walls between facial expressions of angst and “did I just soil myself?” as though life itself is just over or maybe I’m just trying a bit too hard for that Oscar.

Because, in the end, nothing breeds more disappointment than hope. At least if I start rock bottom, the only way is up.

Deep breath….lineups:

ROMA (4-2-3-1): Doni; Panucci, Mexes, Loria, Riise; Filipe, Brighi; Tonetto, Baptista, Menez; Vucinic. A disp.: Artur, Brosco, Malomo, Crescenzi, D’Alessandro, Mladen, Montella. All.: Spalletti.

JUVENTUS (4-4-2): Buffon; Grygera, Mellberg, Chiellini, Molinaro; Salihamidzic, Tiago, Poulsen, Giovinco; Del Piero, Iaquinta. A disp.: Chimenti, Zebina, Ariaudo, Knezevic, Marchionni, Nedved, Trerezeguet. All.: Ranieri.

Love that bench. Is that five players who aren’t legal adults in most countries?

Nice to see this guy playing.