At the last breath, with my heart in my throat until the end. Until Niang’s goal, in full recovery, which gives Empoli salvation and sends Frosinone to Serie B. In the end the Castellani is bedlam, everyone is partying, with Niang obviously being the hero of the evening. For a salvation that now seemed unexpected, also because the Tuscans’ errors had been so many that Empoli almost didn’t seem to want to score anymore. And Rome? On holiday, right from the start, with his mind elsewhere, after Atalanta’s victory against Torino. For De Rossi a bitter ending, with a defeat that seemed in the air but never came. He starts again from here, from sixth place. Hoping to really be able to rebuild.
QUICK AND RESPONSE
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It starts with the disappointment of the Champions League which faded away at the Giallorossi’s home and the hope of survival in the photo finish among the Tuscans. Nicola sends in Destro in place of Niang, De Rossi brings Dybala back from the start after three games and Aouar also relaunches in the middle. The motivations are opposite, just like the values. In the sense that Empoli are hungry, but have clear technical limitations, while Roma play listlessly, make many errors in construction, but in the end they have more quality than their opponents. So after 12′ of play the hosts are ahead with Cancellieri, who takes advantage of a gust from Gyasi following an error from Angelino. The problem, however, is that if Empoli were even just Genoa or Monza, they would score even more goals in the first half hour. And instead Destro gets everything wrong, Cancellieri gets blocked by Svilar and in the 46th minute the insult also arrives, with Aouar’s equalizer following a cross from Angelino. In the midst of so much confusion, with Cristante’s repeated errors to Aouar in the middle of the pitch and the fears of the home team, who slowly move the center of gravity of the game back, almost hoping to close the match an hour early. And instead you play and when you’re scared after 30-35 minutes the blow is almost inevitable.
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MISTAKES AND JOY
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So to try to win Nicola sends in Niang and Walukiewicz, moving Bereszynski to fifth and removing Gyasi, for fear of a second yellow. Caprile immediately has to save on an own goal attempt by Maleh, Niang wastes alone in front of Svilar, Zalewski hits the outside post, Marin the crossbar and Cancellieri has two good chances to score his personal brace, but wastes both in the arms of Svilar . The impression is the same as the first half, with the hosts wasting a lot due to obvious technical limitations. Caputo and Cambiaghi also go in, to play for everything, just as Udinese passes to Frosinone. Nicola finishes with 4 strikers (Niang, Cancellieri, Caputo and Cambiaghi) and an attacking 4-2-4, El Shaarawy scores but is offside, Cancellieri again wastes the right opportunity. We reach the end with our hearts in our mouths, until the 3rd minute of injury time, when Cancellieri gives Niang the saving ball and the Frenchman makes Castellani explode with joy. Empoli is safe, the party begins.
