AS Roma consolidated their second place standing in Serie A with a comfortable 2-0 victory away at Chievo Verona on Saturday. They capitalised on a couple of defensive mistakes from the hosts to net twice in the first half, with the relegation-threatened Flying Donkeys unable to muster up any kind of response.
Chievo Verona vs. AS Roma: Final score 0-2, Roma brush Flying Donkeys aside
Roma were barely tested as they saw off Chievo 2-0 at the Marc’Antonio Bentegodi.
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Chievo actually made quite a positive start to the game, initially pressing Roma surprisingly high up the field -- albeit without ever testing Morgan De Sanctis. That made it all the more disappointing when a defensive howler gifted the giallorossi the advantage inside 20 minutes, with Gervinho pouncing on Boštjan Cesar's catastrophic defensive header before slotting into Michael Agazzi's goal.
Defensive disasters quickly became the story of the half for Chievo, who were pushed ever deeper towards their own goal. Roma's unconvincing start had been replaced by total domination of the match, and they almost had a second just past the half-hour. Mattia Destro stole Dario Dainelli's backpass in the area, only to hit the side-netting from a tight angle.
Rudi Garcia's side did still manage to kill the game off before the halftime whistle, with a low pass from Rodrigo Taddei played straight through the Chievo defence. Destro made amends for his earlier miss by converting the one-on-one, all but sealing the three points with a half still to play. The deceptive first few minutes had been all but forgotten in a miserably one-sided contest.
The second half was unfortunately no better a spectacle, with Chievo throwing on another defender at the break and just looking to avoid any further embarrassment. In that they succeeded, with the newly-introduced spare defender enabling them to gain more of a grip in midfield. Even so, they couldn’t convert their extra possession into anything meaningful, and succumbed to a resounding defeat. Just a point above the relegation zone, they are in serious danger.
Chievo Verona: Agazzi; Frey, Cesar, Dainelli, Sardo; Radovanović, Rigoni, Bentivoglio; Stoian (Rubin 46’), Paloschi (Pellissier 59’), Lazarević (Obinna 70’).
Goals: None.
AS Roma: De Sanctis; Romagnoli, Castán, Benatia, Maicon (Torosidis 46’); Nainggolan, Taddei, Pjanić; Gervinho, Destro (Bastos 76’), Totti (Florenzi 60’).
Goals: Gervinho (17’), Destro (42’).
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