Roma Vs. Juventus: Organization Trumps Aggression As The Old Lady Wins 2-0

Sometimes going for it isn’t enough and while nobody would criticize Roma’s aggressiveness, Juventus were the more organized and composed side. The result of that was a 2-0 win for The Old Lady as they went to Roma’s Stadio Olimpico and came away three points richer. Juventus are now a mere two points behind Roma for sixth in Serie A, putting Roma’s Europa League place in peril with seven matches left in the season.

The first half was actually decidedly in Roma’s favor with the home side pressuring for most of the opening 45 minutes. The problem for Roma is that they had to do more than pressure and challenge the Juventus goal. They had to beat Marco Storari and he was just too good. Storari was only on the field because a high fever ruled Gianluigi Buffon out so Juventus had to go to their back up, but Buffon couldn’t have been any better than Storari was on Sunday. Three times in the first half Roma had what looked like sure goals, but Storari was there to pull a rabbit out of his hat and keep the match scoreless.

When the two sides came out for the second half, it was still Roma who were the aggressors, but this time they struggled to create chances. That is because Juventus were far more organized and when Roma face an organized side, their lack of organization usually shines through. That happened as Fabio Grosso found space along the left before chipping back across the face of goal to Marcos Krasic whose half volley rocketed into the net for a 1-0 Juventus lead. Roma’s lack of organization was exposed one more time as their back line was out of sorts and allowed Alessandro Matri to run in free behind them and in alone on goal. From there, Matri just slid the ball through Doni’s legs for a 2-0 lead and the match.