Sunday, August 19, 2007

First blood to Roma

In the first "big match" of the new season, Roma won the Supercup against Inter thanks to a Daniele De Rossi penalty (yes, you read right, Totti did not take it). And the Giallorossi were well worth their win.

Roma took the game to Inter from the start with little Ludovic Giuly fitting into their style of play perfectly. Even Mirko Vucinic looked pretty lively, giving Burdisso a very hard time - so much so he was swapped flanks with Cordoba. Still, for all their exciting play, Spalletti's men could not take the lead and you always felt Inter might be more clinical if they got a chance.

As the game wore on, Inter came into it a bit but never with the power of reigning champs. Too many of their key players (Stankovic, Vieira and the likes) looked a bit short of match-sharpness. You couldn't say that of Marco Materazzi who was, by far, their man of the match.

Just when it looked like extra time might be on the cards, Totti duped the hapless Burdisso into sticking out a leg and got a penalty. De Rossi thumped it home with Julio Cesar getting close to it but not close enough. That strike with about 12 minutes to go was enough to give Roma a deserved win.

Two points to be made. Firstly, the Giallorossi must get more deadly in front of goal or they risk falling into the trap of last season - thrilling build-up but not enough punch. Inter, for their part, must be worried at how comprehensively they were outplayed at times. There looks to be a lot of fitness work to be done with just a week to go before their title defence begins.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hooray !! At last. Last night I saw a trail on Channel 5 for "Football Italiano" - as it is to be known - which kicks off this Sunday at 13:30 with Inter vs Udinese. That's as much as I know.

ginkers said...

That's all I have seen too. Hardly a huge fanfare but, still, here is hoping the coverage is good.

Anonymous said...

There is also going to be a half hour weekly highlights programe, shown at 11:30 on Saturday monings. It'll be like the good old days of the C4 coverage :0)