Rodrigo Mora stars as unbeaten Roma and Lazio lift Rome in Serie A
Rodrigo Mora scored as Roma defeated Sassuolo 3-0 on Saturday in Serie A, while Lazio drew 1-1 at Napoli on Sunday, leaving both Rome clubs unbeaten in domestic competition this season.
Gian Piero Gasperini received an award from Stelle Nello Sport in Liguria on Sunday, pausing after nine games in 28 days; the timing coincided with Roma’s victory over Sassuolo, which followed a midweek loss to Manchester United. The win took Roma’s tally to 31 goals in 11 Serie A games, a start surpassed in the last 65 years only by the Juventus and Napoli sides of 2017-18, and kept the Giallorossi undefeated domestically.
Opta data cited in the match report says this is the first occasion two clubs from the same city have remained unbeaten through 11 Serie A games. Gasperini acknowledged the surprise around the standings and linked the form to local enthusiasm: “It’s a bit of a surprise for everyone to have this Scudetto derby situation playing out in November,” he said. “But it’s a reflection of the values of the city. “Rome is an extraordinary city which has a huge enthusiasm for football. For Roma the stadium is always full. Lazio might have some other problems. But the passion for football in Rome is incredible.”
The manager’s comment referred in part to a supporters’ boycott affecting Lazio home attendances; figures for the Biancocelesti’s matches at the Stadio Olimpico this season are around 10,000, while Roma drew 64,674 for the Sassuolo game, in line with their average. Lazio sit top of the table heading into the international break.
On the pitch, Sassuolo — described as having the leakiest defence in the division — offered limited resistance. Leonardo Balerdi had a header cleared off the line before Mario Hermoso opened the scoring in the 27th minute. A scuffed shot from Donyell Malen then took deflections off two Sassuolo players and ended in the net, and Mora completed the scoring after cutting in from the left, exchanging passes with Malen and firing across his body into the bottom-right corner.
The goal was Mora’s third consecutive Serie A match with a goal; the 19-year-old also set up Matías Soulé’s opener against Manchester United and played the initial pass that led to Roma’s penalty in that fixture. Gasperini has praised Mora’s quality previously: “We’re standing before an extraordinary talent,” said the manager after including the teenager in his starting XI for a season-opening 4-0 win over Fiorentina in August.
Mora received a Portugal call-up this week for Nations League matches against Denmark and Wales and has trained with the senior squad without yet playing for them. He said he regretted not getting to train again with Cristiano Ronaldo, describing him as “my idol”. Gasperini has managed his minutes, giving Mora a full 90 only in a Champions League rout of Slovan Bratislava and otherwise alternating starts and substitute appearances; Mora started against Udinese, scoring in a 5-2 win, and featured against United but was substituted at half-time, a decision that attracted criticism and after which Roma’s attacking threat was observed to diminish.
Roma enter the international break having secured Champions League qualification last season by winning six of their final seven matches and without a domestic home defeat for more than 11 months; their most recent away league loss was to Inter in April. Gasperini described the team as a work in progress but noted encouraging trends; Roma have recently deployed Mora and Soulé alongside Malen in a 3-4-2-1, and the club hope to have Paulo Dybala available from his calf injury after the international round.
Asked whether he would settle for guaranteed second place, Gasperini dismissed the idea: “We don’t need to give ourselves false illusions, but we’re not going to knock ourselves down for no reason either,” he said. “I don’t know what we can achieve.”