It was Paulo Dybala’s night at the Stadio Olimpico as La Joya scored his first two goals since he joined Roma, helping the Giallorossi ease to a comfortable 3-0 win over bottom-ranked Monza.
Roger Ibanez rounded up the scoring for Roma, who are now alone at the top of the table as they wait for Napoli, Atalanta, Lazio and Torino to take on their mid-week tests tomorrow and Thursday.
For the Biancorossi and their coach Giovanni Stroppa it’s time to do some soul searching as they now are on a four-game losing streak and are yet to collect a single point in their maiden campaign in Serie A.
Monza had an encouraging start tonight as they were in control for the first 15 minutes of the game. However, the Lombardy-based team vanished from the pitch as soon as Dybala hit the net for the first time. That’s too little if they want to put up a fight to maintain their top-flight status.
Dybala made it to the scoresheet for the first time as a Giallorosso on 18 minutes, concluding with a clinical shot an impressive 40-meter run. The Argentine then displayed his trademark “Dybalamask” celebration, sending the stands of the Stadio Olimpico in raptures.
On 32 minutes, he was ready to pounce on the rebound when Michele Di Gregorio saved a Tammy Abraham shot, sending the Giallorossi to the break with a two-goal lead.
Monza did what they could to limit the damage. Defender Luca Caldirola denied Lorenzo Pellegrini and Abraham to keep his side afloat in the second half. However, he couldn’t do anything when Ibanez headed the ball home from a perfectly-time Pellegrini corner.
With 15 minutes to go, there was still time to see Andrea Belotti make his debut for Roma. The Rooster even came close to scoring but was denied by Di Gregorio with his foot.
At full time, José Mourinho could be happy with his side performance, while his Monza counterpart Stroppa will have much work to do to reverse a pretty alarming negative trend.
MATCH SCORECARD
August 30, 2022 – Serie A 2022-2023 Round 4
ROMA – MONZA 3-0
SCORERS: 18′ Dybala, 32′ Dybala, 61′ Ibanez
 |
ROMA (3-4-2-1): Rui Patricio; Mancini, Kumbulla (27′ Smalling), Ibañez; Celik, Cristante, Matic, Zalewski (66′ Spinazzola); Dybala (66′ El Shaarawy), Pellegrini (80′ Bove); Abraham (80′ Belotti) (Svilar, Boer, Vina, Tripi, Karsdorp, Faticanti, El Shaarawy, Shomurodov) Coach: Mourinho |
 |
MONZA (3-5-2): Di Gregorio; Marrone (46′ Molina), Marlon, Caldirola; Birindelli, Pessina (64′ F. Ranocchia), Sensi (84′ Bondo), Machin, Carlos Augusto; Caprari (64′ Dany Mota), Petagna (64′ Ciurria) (Cragno, Sorrentino, Carboni, Antov, Colpani, Valoti, Barberis, Vignato, Gytkjaer) Coach: Stroppa |
NOTES: Yellow Cards:
 |
Follow us on Google News for more updates on Serie A and Italian football |