Derby della Capitale: Liveblog

By: chris | October 31st, 2007

THE DERBY

Here it is, the day we all wait for: The Battle of Good v Evil. The day where Rome bleeds yellow & red and the baby blues take to running for the hills. The day where the wolves come out to play.
ups

Good Guys: Doni; Panucci, Mexes, Juan, Cassetti; De Rossi, Pizarro; Mancini, Perrotta, Tonetto; Vucinic.

A disposizione: Curci, Ferrari, Cicinho, Barusso, Brighi, Esposito, Giuly. All.: Spalletti

Bastards: (4-3-1-2): Ballotta; De Silvestri, Stendardo, Cribari, Zauri; Mudingayi, Ledesma, Manfredini; Mutarelli; Rocchi, Pandev.

A disposizione: Muslera, Scaloni, Baronio, Firmani, Vignaroli, Meghni, Makinwa. All.: Rossi

In good news, Fox Sports is running Sky Sports until the game, where some genius just stated: “We’re the home of global football. We have all the best players, all the best managers.”

Oh yeah? Enjoy watching the Euros from home, jackass.

Strange not to see Cicinho in there, but I think Panucci has to play here. Luckily enough it’s not a huge deal, and we’ll probably see The Brazilian Pocket Rocket in the 2nd. Other than that, a standard lineup. Solid bench, and I think I speak for most here when I say I’d like to see Espo given more than a handful of minutes.

Lazio - meh. Ledesma’s playing, Behrami isn’t, and that D line looks quite inviting. There’s your shit casserole.

Francesco’s in the stands….blah

Curva Sud’s rockin’….and here we go

(btw, you’re about to see my extreme fan card come out here for a quick 90 minutes, neutral observers be warned)

GAMETIME, LADIES

1′ Lazio come out in light blue shirt, dark blue shorts, looking their about to be pleasured by a bunch of sailors. Typical.

2′ Why do I get the feeling Lazio will be playing for a draw here?

3′ Panucci with the band…really? Seniority? Wow. Just wow. Especially in the derby, when rules should be thrown out.

4′ Cassetti is looking sloppy early, let’s hope this changes ASAP.

5′ Passing is exceptionally sloppy to start off the game, by everybody thus far.

7′ I think I may thrown something through the TV during the game. This FSC announcer changes emotion 3 times per sentence.

Good save by Doni on the header…yet another header won by an opponent.

10′ Lots of corners and free kicks, nothin’ doing. GOod work from Mancini though.

11′ 30 seconds after that Mancini shoots close range out of the stadium. Blah.

12′ Maybe now they’ll fucking wake up. Come on, Philou. 0-1.

13′ That goal may be just what Roma needed. Everybody just kicked it into another gear after being embarrassed by a lesser team.

14′ Why am I getting flashbacks of Napoli right now?

Lulu Gulu for Cassetti early second half, if not sooner, that much is clear right now.

15′ Vucigol…………………………………………………………….

Come on man, gotta score that 10 out of 10

A disheartening start to say the least.

17′ VUCIGOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Legend Continues…1-1

18′ This guy is just a penalty box predator supreme. First touch right in the back of the net. And the cherry on top was the pretty play between he and Mancini.

Good comeback. Now I’m even more convinced we’re looking at Napoli v2.0.

21′ Tempo has really slowed after that return goal.

This Mirko and Mancini partnership has done well so far this season. Something for the future.

23′ Simone has come back into the game, and his attacking presence makes Lazio life much more difficult

(btw, I will never predict anything less than a goal from Mirko for any of his starts at striker from here on out)

24′ Here comes The Clusterfuck..

Nothin’

And again…

We’re going to see a lot of this

26′ Free kick within distance, won by Simone, who is looking healthy and in form.

28′ Panucci down, back up, game tempo slowing down, then picking up, then slowing down again. As much is to be expected.

31′ Mancini rockets one left of the post…good to see some guys taking shots when they get within range and handed a little space.

33′ Pandev has been largely a non-factor thus far, and Roma has been closing down the final 3rd.

Rocchi is going to ground with Mexes’ hot breath. Typical.

34′ Doni saves a header. Dammit. Win those.

36′ Doesn’t Di Silvestri look like he’s going to go home tonight and voluntarily recreate the basement scene in Pulp Fiction? Happily playing the role of Ving Rhames? I think so.

38′ Ledesma gets nailed in the chest off the corner. Looks confused. Good sign.

Ballotta is 443 and is playing in his 200th Serie A match. I see he likes to spread those out.

40′ Great run by Mirko, great ball by Max, just off.

This Mirko guy’s decent, eh?

AMANTINO!

What a play from Mirko, to Mancini, to Simone and back to Mancini, who shoots high for the goal.

Welcome to Serie A’s joga bonito academy, ladies.

(Btw, Simone scored in the 41st against Napoli I believe….eerie)

Oh, 2-1.

45′ Mancini with those stepovers, another shot from Mirko which is saved well, after a nice steal by Piza….who has actually been playing fairly well and even contributed defensively (gotta be a derby thing).

Half

Much improved after the first 15 minutes and Roma’s lapse in concentration. They’ve controlled well but Lazio is still getting the occasional chance near goal, although the aerial abilities of Roma have improved greatly which is limiting Lazio’s chances on net. Mancini is the MOTFH (1st half) and Mirko isn’t far behind. I love what Mancini and Mirko have created together, and I don’t see how Spalletti can go much longer without figuring out a way to get Mirko onto the field regularly, and not as a backup. At this rate we’re looking at the Mirko that was dubbed Serie A’s striker phenom a few years ago. To the point where I think he’ll get another one in the second half, along with Simone.

At this point I don’t see how Roma scores any less than 3 goals in this game, and most likely more.

FORZA ROMA

And we’re back after a montage of I have no fucking clue what

Lazio in the box, about 3 roman jerseys for every sky blue, presumably because they figure most of the police in Rome will be at this game so it’s a good time to go rob children and sodomize sheep.

46′ Meghni in the game for Lazyo. Frightening.

47′ Great header by Philou to clear the ball, Roma having to bring out the team bus here early. Not a good start to the half (Remember the Napoli early 2nd half…I’ll stop soon, but it’s forming a pattern)

49′ Juan’s playing the offside trap against Lazio’s back line. I love this guy more and more each game.

50′ Great drop off header by Mirko. The more confidence he gets, the better he’s going to be.

51′ I’m pining for a little Cicinho action. And for him to get on the field.

54′ Great cross by Christian, great header by Simone on net and great save by Ballotta. Great all around.

SIMONE!!!!!!!!!!!

It was inevitable

Welcome to the big leagues, Lazio.

Great play by both Mirko to flick it and Simone to control the ball and put it in the net.

3-1, and it’s looking damn ugly for Lazio. I heart derbies.

56′ Great break by David, Mancini and Simone nearly puts it over.

Simone is looking to score at least 2 goals today. Come on, make me look good.

60′ What a derby this has turned into minus Il Capitano. Joga Bonito is hitting in full force.

60′ Upset special of the night: First card comes out in the 60th minute of The Derby. Who saw that coming.

Well, there’s two. We’ve got the ball rolling baby.

DDR & Pandev yellows.

62′ This is getting damn ugly for the orphan slappers.

63′ I’ll say it: Little David is having a great game. Awesome to see. I suspect this tune will change soon.

65′ Pandev has sucked ass, Rocchi largely disappeared. Lazio needs a prayer to make it to Europe next year. Oh glory be.

67′ Tempo is incredibly slow at this point. Here comes another Lazio sub. And it won’t help. Firmani on, Mudingayi off.

68′ Fark. 3-2. Nice goal by Ledesma. I suppose that seals his transfer to Inter.

Alright, bring on Lulu, bring on Espo and let’s throw it all towards goal. This one goal lead shit is not going to cut it.

70′ Listen, David, everytime I compliment you you donate the ball to the opposition and it leads to a counter attack. Cut that shit.

73′ Lulugulu on for Amantino, who will probably get my MOTM. Well, it’s between he and Mirko at the moment.

Is Mancini allergic to a full 90?

75′ Rocchi gets a shot off and Doni saves again. Too much momentum right now.

78′ Really not enjoying any of this right now. I swear the lifespan of Roma fans keeps dropping by the day..

Good work by Lulu and Mirko.

79′ Nothing like a good old Clusterfuck to calm the nerves.

83′ Simone down and it looks legit.

Dear Christ how many times is he going to get hurt this year?

Back up, walking it off. Stop scaring me, Simone.

David sticks a hard boot in, gets a yellow and applause from the faithful. Atta boy.

84′ Something just happened there where Mirko kept losing the ball and David kept getting it back. I’m not sure I saw that correctly.

86′ This team bus shit has got to go. Here comes Matteo for Little David.

87′ What a header from Juan. Mutarelli scissors Matteo from behind. Yellow, good work from Brighi.

88′ Nice work from Lulu, had Marco gotten a little more mustard on the ball that was probably in. Good stuff from the Lilliputian.

89′ FSC guy keeps saying Serginho is coming on for Roma. I guess they picked him up from Milan on Monday. As usual, quality work from the FSC guys. Eric Wynalda will be rpoud.

Cicinho on for Mirko. Somehow.

90′ Having played a mediocre game, I’m surprised Cassetti will play a full 90. He should’ve been off earlier.

91′ Rocchi puts his studs into Doni’s stomach, Doni goes down hard and this could get ugly with no subs remaining. Milk it Alex until the final whistle goes.

He’s up. That’s some professional timewasting right there. Dida will be proud.

GAME. SET. MATCH.

ROMA VICTORY

A huge 3 points from the boys in yellow & red, and yet again, they purge those bastards in blue once more.

Vucigol and Mancini were huge, as was Simone. At the moment, I’d give that 3 headed trifecta my MOTM, but I need to rewatch the game without consistently looking down to type. A warning to the children: Do not take up a profession as a liveblogger. It’s not worth it.

Recap and stuff later, tomorrow. Until then, enjoy the victory.

Grazie Roma
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