With the new coach, the team has never scored fewer than two goals per match. With eight players finding the back of the net, Dybala has the best numbers.
Maybe it’s not even a coincidence that so far, De Rossi’s Roma has only lost against Inter. Not just because Simone Inzaghi’s team is the strongest in the league, but also because they’re the only team that has scored more goals than Roma: 18 for Inter, 16 for Roma, of course considering the period of the league since De Rossi returned to Trigoria. In six matches, Roma has become a goal-scoring machine, with only Inter outperforming them. However, Inter is dominating the league.
THE NUMBERS
In a versatile Roma, often changing tactics from a back four to a back three, playing with one or two strikers, widening or narrowing the wingers, and shifting the central defense to form a three-and-a-half backline (in Spalletti’s style), there’s one consistent factor—the fact that Roma always scores many goals. Since De Rossi took over, Roma in the league has never scored fewer than two goals per game: 2 goals against Verona, Salernitana, and Inter, three against Frosinone and Torino, and even 4 against Cagliari. Indeed, a goal-scoring machine, with eight players finding the net in six matches (6 goals by Dybala, three by Pellegrini, 2 by Huijsen, and one each for El Shaarawy, Paredes, Azmoun, Mancini, and Lukaku).
The goal-scoring average of Roma has dramatically increased, from 1.6 in the first 20 matches under Mourinho’s management to 2.7 in the six matches under De Rossi’s tenure. Roma has scored only one goal in the two Europa League matches, against Feyenoord (Lukaku in Rotterdam, Pellegrini in the return leg at the Olimpico), but that’s another story. Because in both cases, Roma created many chances and probably deserved more goals. In the league, however, De Rossi is practically a guarantee. And he’ll try to repeat that tomorrow afternoon in Monza, against his friend Palladino.
