It was fierce and intense before the Derby Della Capitale, as Roma and Lazio fans clashed with each other and with police outside the stadium and in the city, and it was as equally fierce as arch rivals fought for the prestige win and a Champions League spot. That is why we saw emotion and desire, five red cards and one crucial VAR intervention, but only one goal and few chances: Lazio – Roma 0-1. The blue part of Rome will be happy as they went straight to the second position in Serie A, they now have 5 points more than Roma, they managed to keep five clean sheets in the league in a row, and most importantly for the fans, they are now unbeaten in seven derbies when they played as nominal hosts (five wins, two draws), as both clubs share the Olimpico stadium.🩶🩵🦅#LazioRoma pic.twitter.com/uoA2n71Vrt— 𝑴𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒐 𝑩𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒆 (@m_biancoceleste) March 19, 2023 Coach Maurizio Sarri also won the tactical battle (again) over his counterpart Jose Mourinho, who was not physically present, as he served his second game ban, after receiving his third red card since this season. The Portuguese has a little record going, as his team never lost while he served the ban, but it all changed this time around, as Giallorossi lost without him last week at home against Sassuolo 4-3 and this week as well. And in both matches, the key moment was the same – the red card. It seems that Roma players took the worst from their coach and are losing discipline. In this important games, both set of players made it very physical, but Roma’s Ibanez went too far, earning two yellow cards in the first 30 minutes, leaving his teammates to play a man down for another hour. Against in-form Lazio, it was too much. Scontri nei pressi dell’Olimpico #LazioRoma pic.twitter.com/zpmJepN745— AS Roma Partite (@ASRomaPartite) March 19, 2023 After an uneventful first half, Lazio pushed even harder in the second half, while on Roma’s side, Llorente came in, and Dybala was the tactical victim of the red card by Ibanez. Luis Alberto and Pedro’s chances were a prelude to the opening (and game winning) goal by Lazio, which came in the 65th minute. Zalewski made a mistake and Zaccagni was quick to use it and finished brilliantly from a tight angle. The key VAR moment happened just three minutes after Lazio’s lead, when Roma managed to equalize, but the goal was nullified, as the replay showed that Smalling was in offside position. That was the best Roma could do in the second half and Lazio took the ball and never gave it back. After the final whistle, in another players shuffle, both Marušić from Lazio and Cristante from Roma were given red cards. With two assistant coaches form both clubs also receiving red cards at the end of the first half, Derby Della Capitale ended with one goal and five red cards. GOAL | Zaccagni ⚽️Lazio 1-0 AS Roma#LazioRoma pic.twitter.com/iz2GzGlCfr— Halftime Football (@halftimefooty) March 19, 2023 Roma quickly scores the equalizer on Lazio but the goal was annulled due to offside #LazioRoma #لاتسيو_روما pic.twitter.com/Y2DrAPB5Eo— AlAudhli العوذلي (@AAudhli) March 19, 2023 SERIE A – ROUND 27FridaySassuolo – Spezia 1-0 (0-0)/Berardi 71 pen/Atalanta – Empoli 2-1 (0-1)/De Roon 58, Hojlund 86 – Ebuehi 44/SaturdayMonza – Cremonese 1-1 (0-0)/Carlos Augusto 69 – Ciofani 61/Salernitana – Bologna 2-2 (1-1)/Pirola 7, Dia 64 – Ferguson 11, Lykogiannis 74/Udinese – Milan 2-1 (2-1)/Pereyra 10, Beto 45+6 – Ibrahimovic 45+3 pen/SundaySampdoria – Hellas Verona 3-1 (2-0)/Gabbiadini 24, 35, Zanoli 90+8 – Faraoni 89/Fiorentina – Lecce (in progress)Torino – Napoli (in progress)Lazio – Roma 1-0 (0-0)/Zaccagni 65/22:45: (2.10) Inter (3.40) Juventus (3.90)***odds are subject to change***
