After more than two years of waiting, Daniele De Rossi’s Roma finally took revenge on Lazio in the Derby della Capitale with a tense 1-0 win.
The Biancocelesti hadn’t lost to their intercity rivals since a 3-0 defeat on March 20th 2022, winning three of the following four meetings, keeping the Giallorossi quiet in each match. That meant little ahead of this derby, however, as it was a different era for both clubs.
Roma were the first to make a change this season, replacing Jose Mourinho with De Rossi back in January, whilst Lazio were forced into a switch last month after Maurizio Sarri retired, prompting them to bring in Igor Tudor.
The Derby della Capitale got off to a quick start at the Stadio Olimpico, with Roma having an early change through Leandro Paredes before Lazio made a foray forward of their own, which ended with Ciro Immobile dragging his shot wide of the near post.
The match started to slow down as the first half progressed, but things came to a head again before the half time break. A Paulo Dybala corner in the 42nd minute was deftly met by Gianluca Mancini, whose header sailed past Christos Mandas to make it 1-0 to Roma.
Lazio were slow off the mark in the second half, allowing Roma to generate the first real chance through a sprinting Stephan El Shaarawy, whose 55th minute shot ricocheted off the near post, letting Tudor’s side off the hook.
Whilst the Biancocelesti did start to regain control of the match, they were unable to break down the Roma defence, allowing De Rossi’s side to break forward with chances throughout the remaining minutes.
It was an ultimately frustrating and disappointing performance for Tudor’s Lazio, who have a lot to learn from their tense 1-0 loss to Roma.
