ROME-EMPOLI 7-0
At the Olimpico the Argentine opens the ball from the spot and then signs the poker with a great play in the second half. In between, a header from Renato Sanches and an own goal from Grassi. Cristante, Big Rom and Mancini were also on target
17 set 2023
The Roma exaggerates and turns. On the fourth day of Serie A the team of Mourinho overwhelms Empoli 7-0 and collect the first victory in the championship. At the Olimpico the Giallorossi started very strong and after ten minutes they led by two goals: Dybala (1′) immediately opens the ball from the spot, then Renato Sanches (8′) doubles his header. The hat trick came in the 35th minute with a own goal by Grassithen the Joya (55′) scores a brace with a great play in the area, Cristante (80′) hits the target with a shot from the edge and Lukaku (82′) e Mancini (86′) round off the result in the final.
THE MATCH
Roma raises their heads again. And she does it with a tough and devastating performance. Seven goals against Empoli are certainly enough to move the table, give a shock and ward off criticism. Also because the Giallorossi show off a great performance in terms of play, personality and individuality. Roma got everything right against Zanetti’s men. The great star of the evening is Dybala with two goals, but Cristante, Renato Sanches, Lukaku and Mancini also participate in the Giallorossi party. A goal festival that humiliates Empoli, gives positive signals on the inclusion of Big Rom and restarts the Special One gang in the standings.
After the difficult start to the season marked by the draw with Salernitana and the defeats against Verona and Milan, at the Olimpico Mourinho finds Dybala again and starts Lukaku from the start for the first time. Also making their debut are N’dicka and Renato Sanches. Still with zero points and zero goals, Zanetti instead turns everything upside down: Caputo out, Destro in with Cancellieri and Cambiaghi completing the trident. Choices that immediately mark the start of the match. Tall and aggressive, the Giallorossi pressed, widening the maneuver and after less than a minute they broke the deadlock from the spot with Dybala due to a clumsy handball in the area by Walukiewicz following a cross from Kristensen. Goal that directs the match and sends Empoli into a tailspin. Caught again with Kristensen’s counter, Renato Sanches doubles the score with a header and after eight minutes Roma are two goals ahead. A devastating one-two that explodes the Olimpico and puts the match on the Giallorossi’s tracks. In control, the Special One team manages the pace of the match by lowering and raising the revs at will and relying centrally on Lukaku’s physicality. Paredes hits the post directly from a corner, then Cristante heads over from a good position and Big Rom misses his aim with his right foot after a verticalization by Dybala. Forcing to which Empoli responds by switching to 4-2-3-1 and relying on a couple of outsized conclusions from the edge. Attempts that send a timid signal to Roma, but which do not change the inertia of the match in the slightest. Concentrated on possession, the Giallorossi confidently relied on Lukaku vertically and shortly before the end of the first half they scored again thanks to an own goal by Grassi triggered by a insertion by Cristante. A trio that certifies the dominance of Mourinho’s band and together with a shot from the edge of the edge by Bereszynski defused by Rui Patricio closes the first half.
The second half began with the arrival of Ismajli, Bastoni and Bove in place of Walukiewicz, Fazzini and Renato Sanches. Substitutions that give more balance and boost to Empoli, but which do not change the progress of the match. Ahead by three goals, Roma continues to rely on the dribble to allow the minutes to pass without risk and to look for the wingers to give way to the maneuver. Empoli, on the other hand, is forced to chase the Giallorossi and raises the white flag. Served by Cristante, Dybala makes Luperto sit in the area and cold Berisha with a left foot, causing the Olimpico to explode. Poker that closes the match and transforms the rest of the match into a game without history. Inspired, Dybala hits the crossbar from a free kick, then gives way to Belotti. Zanetti instead throws Caputo and Baldanzi into the fray and the two new arrivals immediately put together two dangerous actions: the first was blocked by Rui Patricio, the second was blocked by the post. But they are just two flashes in the pan. In the last ten minutes, in fact, Roma scored another three times. Cristante freezes Berisha with a shot from far away, then Lukaku joins the party by scoring with a right foot on the counterattack and Mancini closes the score with a header following the development of a corner, sinking Empoli.
ROME-EMPOLI: SCORESHEET AND REPORT CARDS
THE STATISTICS
• Paulo Dybala is one of four players with Giacomo Bonaventura, Duvan Zapata and Domenico Berardi to have found the net in each of the last 10 Serie A seasons.
• Roma scored seven goals in a Serie A match for the first time since 19 November 2006: 7-0 against Catania in that case.
• Empoli conceded seven goals in a Serie A match for the first time in their history, the Tuscan club had never conceded more than five goals in a top flight match.
• The last time Roma scored two goals in the first eight minutes of a Serie A match dates back to Roma-Empoli on 4 February (in that case goals from Ibañez in the 2nd minute and Abraham in the 6th minute).
• Empoli is only the third team that has been unable to win points or score in the first four Serie A games of the season after Mantua in 1964/65 and Padova in 1994/95.
• Only Domenico Berardi (eight) has scored more penalty goals than Paulo Dybala in the last two Serie A seasons (since 2022/23).
• Paulo Dybala has been involved in six of the last 11 goals scored by Roma against Empoli in Serie A: three goals and three assists for the Argentine in the last three matches against the Tuscan club in the competition.
• No player has scored more multiple goals than Paulo Dybala in home matches in the last two Serie A seasons (three braces for the Giallorossi in home matches, like Lautaro Martinez and Rafael Leão).
• Roma scored seven goals in a Serie A match for the first time since 19 November 2006: 7-0 against Catania in that case.
• Renato Sanches is the first Portuguese midfielder to score a goal in Serie A since Sergio Olivera, who also scored a goal against Empoli with the Roma shirt on 23 January 2022.
• Bryan Cristante both scored and provided an assist in a Serie A match for the second time in his career after doing so for Atalanta against Genoa on 29 April 2018.
• Andrea Belotti provided two winning passes in a Serie A match for the first time since 3 January 2021 for Torino against Parma. Only against Cagliari (five) has the striker made more assists than against the Tuscan club in the competition (four).
• In the last two Serie A seasons (since 2022/23), Roma are the team that has hit the woodwork the most in the competition (22).
• Roma have scored at least two goals in their last eight games against Empoli in Serie A (23 goals, 2.9 on average per game); against any team he has scored at least two goals in more consecutive matches in the competition (eight also against Lecce and Parma).
• Empoli have conceded eight own goals in the last two top-flight seasons, at least two more than any other team in this period.
• Since the beginning of April 2023, only Lautaro Martinez (12), Rafael Leao and Olivier Giroud (nine both) have scored more than Romelu Lukaku in Serie A (eight).
• 50th appearance for Edoardo Bove and Andrea Belotti with the Roma shirt counting all competitions.
• 100th appearance of Leandro Paredes in Serie A.