Gian Piero Gasperini praised Roma’s resilience, quality and decisive substitutions after the Giallorossi overturned Atalanta’s lead with two dramatic late goals.
Gian Piero Gasperini believes Roma’s extraordinary late comeback against Atalanta demonstrated the conviction and quality developing within his squad.
Roma trailed until the 90th minute before Mario Hermoso equalized and Matías Soulé scored a stoppage-time winner, securing a dramatic 2-1 victory at the Stadio Olimpico.
Speaking to Sky Sport after the match, Gasperini praised his players for continuing to attack despite falling behind with Atalanta’s first meaningful attempt on goal.
Gasperini: “These are signs that the team believes”
Asked whether the victory carried additional significance because it came against a strong Atalanta side, Gasperini highlighted Roma’s dominance and determination.
“I’d say so, precisely because we played against a strong team. We found ourselves behind probably with their first shot on goal, after a first half that was completely one-way traffic. In games like this, in this heat, you run the risk of attacking continuously, failing to score and then the opposition, having used up less energy from an athletic point of view, can find some space and score, making it difficult to get back into the game.
“We did well right until the end. In fact, we had some decent opportunities late on. Of course, when you win like this, in the closing stages, when you’re losing until stoppage time and then actually turn the game around and win, it’s clear that these are signs that the group believes, that the team believes and that there’s quality there, too.”
Roma’s victory extended their perfect opening to the Serie A season. The Giallorossi have won all three matches, scoring 10 goals and conceding only once.
Substitutions transform Roma’s performance
Gasperini made five changes during the second half, introducing Nahuel Molina, Soulé, Santiago Castro, Daniele Ghilardi and Leonardo Balerdi.
The substitutions had a significant influence on the result. Soulé assisted Hermoso’s equalizer before scoring the winning goal, while Castro struck the woodwork twice.
Gasperini also emphasized the importance of the defensive changes, which allowed Roma to regain control after Atalanta began threatening on the counterattack.
“They were clearly important because, as I said before, when you keep attacking like that, you expend a lot of energy and then, if you don’t manage to get the goal, there’s a risk that the game could go in a different direction and that you no longer have the same strength you had in the first half.
“The changes at the back were important too, with Leonardo Balerdi and Daniele Ghilardi coming on because they were breaking forward dangerously. Instead, with the two of them coming on, we regained our attacking impetus.
“Marco Carnesecchi was extraordinary. Our finishing was good and we did well in attack tonight, but a little less ruthless than usual. A lot of our shots were also fairly tame, without the right determination, and we created a huge number of chances. We were rewarded in the end.”
Soulé earned the highest average score in the Roma player ratings published by six major Italian newspapers.
Castro and Malen can play together
Castro replaced Donyell Malen in the 63rd minute and immediately caused problems for the Atalanta defence.
The Argentine hit the post and crossbar before contributing to Roma’s sustained pressure during the closing stages. Gasperini confirmed that he could eventually use Castro alongside Malen rather than continuing to treat them exclusively as alternatives.
“It’s an idea for the future. They can certainly both be on the pitch and play together. We’ll see. We’re assessing things at the moment.
“We’ll have a lot of games and after the international break, there’ll certainly be a run of difficult matches against top teams, with three games a week for many weeks, so there’ll be opportunities for everyone and also we’ll be able to vary these systems of play.
“I have to say that Matías Soulé came on and did very well too. He was equally determined. Nahuel Molina also gave us a bit of quality. The substitutes did well, but this is what we were looking to finish off in the squad in terms of having alternatives who can provide support over the course of games.”
Roma have greater quality but remain short numerically
Roma strengthened Gasperini’s squad during the summer with the arrivals of Castro, Molina, Rodrigo Mora, Konstantinos Koulierakis, Balerdi and Marten de Roon.
Although the coach believes the overall quality has improved, he reiterated that Roma do not possess the numerical depth normally associated with a Champions League squad.
“Not in terms of numbers, because compared with last year we’re short of two or three players. In terms of quality, though, yes, definitely.
“Tonight’s changes demonstrate that: I still had Marten De Roon on the bench, I still had Konstantinos Koulierakis and other important players. I have Lorenzo Pellegrini out at the moment, but we’ll get him back.
“The important thing is to avoid injuries because we don’t have a Champions League-sized squad. In terms of quality, however, we can make changes without suffering a drop-off.”
Roma will make their Champions League return against Fenerbahçe in Istanbul on September 10, beginning a demanding period involving three matches per week.
Gasperini provides Dybala fitness update
Paulo Dybala completed the entire match despite entering the contest with some uncertainty surrounding his physical condition.
Gasperini dismissed concerns that the Argentine had suffered an adductor problem, explaining that he was simply affected by fatigue after playing in difficult weather conditions.
“No, he stayed on in the end. Obviously, towards the end, anyone who’d played 90 minutes was a little fatigued. Wesley had some cramp too, but the weather conditions were really difficult and playing in those conditions, having to chase and having to come from behind, makes you expend much more energy.”
Dybala ultimately made another decisive contribution, supplying the ball for Soulé before the match-winning finish in the 93rd minute.
Source: Sky Sport, asroma.com
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