A week after losing to Juventus away from home, Roma bounced back with a 3-1 win over Genoa. Avoiding the emotional distraction of Daniele De Rossi’s return to the Stadio Olimpico (which will never feel normal as an opponent) and immediately putting Griffin on the back foot, Gian Piero Gasperini’s side ended 2025 on a high note, jumping into fourth place, a point ahead of Juventus.
By scoring three goals, Roma ended a frustrating run of performances in which the capital club had scored just three goals in its past four games. Granted, all three of Roma’s goals required a bit of luck to score, but the hesitation and uncertainty that have plagued the club over the past month disappeared on Monday, which bodes well for things to come.
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With that in mind, let’s pass on some halo!
saint
Jan Tsiolkovsky
Let’s put aside the goalscorers and playmakers for now and give the priority to Roma’s youngest player. Judging from appearance alone, the 20-year-old Polish defender is 6 feet 5 inches tall, has slender limbs and a smooth gait, and he can be called Dean Huijsen on the court. However, against Genoa, JZ’s performance was reminiscent of the Dutch/Spanish maestro.
Tsiolkovsky disarmed De Rossi’s team with his quick and decisive defense (16 defensive actions, 8 clearances and 14/17 duel wins) and precise passing (89% overall pass success rate, 80% long pass success rate). Tsiolkovsky was very efficient yesterday, showing a composure and efficiency that belies his age.
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Look at this lovely trick from Sule’s goal, where he tackles and redirects a high-arching clearance in one fell swoop, even though he’s being pushed in the opposite direction.
Mathias Sule
Although Sule only played 57 minutes yesterday, he made life miserable for Genoa on Monday: two shots (both on target), one tackle, two interceptions, three chances created, four saves and, of course, that clever goal that opened the scoring in the 14th minute.
His performance is a joy to watch…and his talent is just scratching the surface.
Manu Cone
The French midfielder put in a typically stellar performance yesterday, cutting through midfield like a hot knife through butter, racking up twice as many passing yards as any other midfielder on the pitch, scoring a game-high six goals in the final third, driving three in the final third, recovering six and scoring his first Serie A goal of the season. He could have scored the second goal had he not fouled the Genoa goalkeeper during a goal-line scramble.
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Evan Ferguson
The Irishman put in an entertaining 84 minutes against Genoa, resulting in one of the biggest match rating splits we’ve ever seen between WhoScored (7.96) and SofaScore (6.3). Mysterious metrics aside, the much-maligned striker excelled in front of goal, scoring a goal (admittedly the softest shot you’ll ever see), assisting another, and generating three shot chances and four progressive passes.
Gasperini’s protests aside, Ferguson seems to be gaining a foothold in Roma’s attack bit by bit. We’ll find out soon enough if he continues this trajectory with Roma, but you can certainly see why he’s such an interesting player.
Roma’s lowest-rated players have logged less than 30 combined minutes on the pitch, so we’ll skip the pitchforks today and end things in the muddy middle ground between sinners and saints.
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caught in the middle
Gianluca Mancini/Mario Hermoso/Danielle Girardi
We’ve lumped Roma’s remaining centre-backs into our SIB category because, while they weren’t as flashy as Tsiolkovsky, they were still effective in limiting Genoa to just four chances in the game. Girardi was particularly impressive in his 16-minute cameo, making seven defensive moves, including three clearances.
With Ziolkovski’s rise and Evan Ndika finally returning from the Africa Cup of Nations, Girardi may struggle to find playing time, so let’s hope rumors of a dry January loan come to fruition.
Paulo Dybala
La Jolla may not have contributed to any goals, but he ran the entire 90 minutes — a feat in itself considering the muscle issues he’s had this season. Despite this, Dybala managed two shots, created two shooting opportunities, scored four goals in the final third and even recovered four goals.
