Rudi Garcia's side cemented second place in Serie A, thanks to goals from Mattia Destro, Kevin Strootman and Adem Ljajic. Livorno's resistance and attacking threat was futile at best and the Amaranto stay bottom of the Serie A pile. Had it not been for Francesco Bardi in the Livorno goal, the winning margin could have been a cricket score.
AS Roma vs Livorno, final score 3-0: Roma stroll to an easy victory
Attilio Perotti endured a nightmare debut on the Livorno bench. AS Roma dominated from the first whistle to the last, comfortably running out 3-0 winners.
With a midweek Coppa Italia quarter final in mind, Garcia opted to rotate his squad. Douglas Maicon, Alessandro Florenzi and Francesco Totti were all rested. Leandro Castan, Daniele De Rossi and Ljajic all returned from suspension, but Federico Balzaretti was injured. Livorno lined up without the injured Andrea Coda.
The Giallorossi opened the scoring on six minutes from their very first attack. Gervinho - despite being in a borderline offside position, dummied Ljajic’s cross, allowing Destro to blast the ball in from the goal-line.
Mehdi Benatia sent a bicycle kick over the bar after De Rossi cushioned a header into his path. De Rossi split the defence to send Destro clear, but Bardi rushed out to block the shot with his body. Moments later, Federico Ceccherini put in a crucial tackle to prevent Destro turning in a Vasilis Torosidis cross.
Gervinho saw an angled drive squirm under Bardi. The goalkeeper managed to scramble back and smother the ball to spare his blushes. Strootman capitalised on a Leandro Rinaudo slip, only to let him off the hook by shooting straight at Bardi. Strootman made amends by netting the second goal on 36 minutes. Destro chipped the ball over a committed Bardi, Nahuel Valentini cleared off the line, but Strootman was on hand to put the ball in from close range.
Four minutes before the break, Gervinho missed an open goal after he sent a diving header wide. Destro had an effort chalked off right on half time. The forward had finished a flowing move from the edge of the box, but play was called back for Castan being in an offside position and for obstructing Bardi’s view as he jumped over the ball. Roma didn’t relent. In stoppages, Ceccherini cleared off the line and Strootman blasted wide from outside the box.
Former Roma player Leandro Greco fashioned Livorno's first real attack nine minutes after the break. However, Morgan De Sanctis watched the effort creep past the far post. Roma took their foot off the gas, but still re-asserted their dominance. Dodo's mazy run resulted in a deflected shot, while Ibrahima Mbaye threw his body in the way to send Miralem Pjanic's effort wide.
Ljajic took centre stage for Roma. His dipping shot swerved past the far post at the last second, before a deft chip was tipped over thanks to Bardi instinctively sticking out a hand. The Serbian finally found the net with his next effort 12 minutes from time. Radja Nainggolan provided the pass for Ljajic to powerfully place a low shot underneath Bardi into the bottom corner. Totti was denied a fourth goal late on thanks to Bardi's leg.
AS Roma: De Sanctis; Torosidis, Benatia, Castan, Dodò; Pjanic, (Nainggolan 69) De Rossi, Strootman; Ljajic, Destro, (Totti 79) Gervinho (Florenzi 67)
Livorno: Bardi; Valentini, Rinaudo, Ceccherini; (Lambrughi 76) Piccini, Benassi, (Mosquera 81) Biagianti, Duncan, (Borja 46) Mbaye; Greco; Paulinho
Goals: Destro 6 (R) Strootman 36 (R) Ljajic 78 (R)
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