Jose Mourinho is gone, but the problems remain. And the problems are injuries and the absence of a proper creative midfielder. But, unlike the famous Portuguese, Daniele De Rossi somehow found the way to overcome this obstacles and recorded his second win since in charge of Roma. This time it was Salernitana who lost to Giallorossi 2-1 (like Verona last week) but to be fair, the last placed Serie A team had their chances. The reason why they will be relegated is that they didn’t used them during the season and tonight. Sardar Azmoun, Renato Sanches, Marash Kumbulla, Tammy Abraham, Leonardo Spinazzola and Chris Smalling are still injured, Evan N’Dicka is on AFCON international duty while Leandro Paredes was suspended after receiving the fifth yellow card, so nobody can moan if Roma didn’t played nice and with plenty of chances. De Rossi’s team used mistakes by the hosts and finally came in reach of the fourth place and the Champions League spot with only one point behind Atalanta.3 – Lorenzo #Pellegrini has scored three goals away against Salernitana in #SerieA, in no other venue has he scored more away goals than the Arechi stadium in the top-flight (also 3 at Luigi Ferraris). Guest.#SalernitanaRoma— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) January 29, 2024 The first half was all but watchable. Roma had 70% of possession but no shots on target as they couldn’t find a way to break Salernitana’s defense. On the other hand, the hosts used every opportunity to attack on the counter, and if they weren’t so bad, they would probably score at least once. They had one really good chance in the first half, when Bradaric smacked the ball from the edge of the area and forced Rui Patricio to a full stretch fingertips save. Salernitana was on its way to secure at least a draw but shoot themselves in the foot by handballing in the penalty area. It was Maggiore’s handball which allowed Paulo Dybala to score his fifth penalty of the season (hasn’t missed so far), before captain Pellegrini tried to ‘kill’ the game in the 66th minute and brought his team another victory. Salernitana didn’t quit however and had one excellent chance through Martegani, before Grigoris Kastanos gave them hope in the 70th minute. Salernitana pushed and pushed, squeezed Roma in the box but in the end the guests prevailed.SERIE A – MATCHDAY 22Friday Cagliari – Torino 1-2 (0-2)/Viola 77 – Zapata 23, Ricci 45+3/Saturday Atalanta – Udinese 2-0 (2-0)/Miranchuk 33, Scammacca 45+1/Juventus – Empoli 1-1 (0-0)/Vlahovic 50 – Baldanzi 70/AC Milan – Bologna 2-2 (0-1)/Loftus-Cheek 45, 83 – Zirkzee 29, Orsolini 90+2 pen/Sunday Genoa – Lecce 2-1 (0-1)/Retegui 70, Ekuban 76 – Krstovic 31/Monza – Sassuolo 1-0 (1-0)/Colpani 31/Verona – Frosinone 1-1 (1-0)/Suslov 45+3 pen – Kaio Jorge 58/Lazio – Napoli 0-0Fiorentina -Inter 0-1 (0-1)/Martinez 14/Monday Salernitana – Roma 1-2 (0-0)/Kastanos 70 – Dybala 51 (p), Pellegrini 66/
