A boring first half, few chances in the second, one crossbar hit by each team, and a goalless draw – that’s the summary of tonight’s match in which Giallorossi gave their fans four reinforcements in the starting lineup and a mediocre display with no creation. Cagliari was even closer to winning at some moments. In the end, a goalless draw is the fairest result.La sfida di Cagliari si chiude senza reti.#CagliariRoma #ASRoma pic.twitter.com/kC8qV5WRX3— AS Roma (@OfficialASRoma) August 18, 2024 Daniele De Rossi decided to throw four newcomers in at the deep end already in Roma’s initial Serie A clash of the new season. Hence, Angelino took his place on the left defensive side, Enzo Le Fee was the defensive midfielder, Matias Soule was on the right flank, and Artem Dovbyk led the Giallorossi’s attack. Even though he is on the verge of moving to Saudi Arabia, Paulo Dybala was still on the bench.However, Cagliari showed no fear of the stronger opponent from the first minute, even though Roma won the last four clashes against the Rossoblu. In the initial 30 minutes, the teams mainly battled it out in the midfield, more focused on defending their goals than scoring them.After half an hour – the first chance of the match. Only it was not a regular chance, but a mistake by Caglari’s keeper Simone Scuffet, who missed the ball after Sebastiano Luperto passed it back to him, but saved his team and himself with a goal-line clearance.Ivorian ace waiting for Dybala’s decisionAs the time in the first half passed, Roma was slowly but surely taking control over the match, but that control was futile since the Giallorossi had no chance and no shot on target. Much was expected from Dovbyk, but he didn’t get any useful balls as it seemed that he still needed to get to know his teammates on the pitch.Conversely, Cagliari lurked counterattacks and had two chances through Razvan Marin – when Mile Svilar blocked his shot – and Roberto Piccoli, whose attempt in the ultimate minute before the break went wide of the post.Worst case scenario for Juve: Chiesa to Inter?!Roma’s first chance came at the start of the second half. Soule found himself in a good situation and tried from the edge of the area, but Scuffet was focused. In the 55th minute – an even better chance for Giallorossi. Nicola Zalewski sent a perfect cross into the box, Dovbyk cleverly left the ball to the captain Lorenzo Pellegrini, but his shot was too weak, allowing Cagliari’s custodian to note another save.Even if De Rossi wanted to leave Dybala on the bench and not play him tonight, the situation on the field was somewhat alarming and made the Italian sub La Joya in for Zalewski after 69 minutes. Ten minutes before the end, the Argentinian outstandingly found Dovbyk with an ideal cross, but his close-range header glanced away off the bar. Minutes later, Marin’s fantastic strike from the edge of the area crashed against the crossbar as well.Already in the next attack, Pellegrini scored after Scuffet’s deflection, but Roma’s skipper was offside. Tammy Abraham and Stephan El Shaarawy were De Rossi’s last attempts to mix things up but in vain. Roma didn’t show anything of their attacking potential in this game and the fans have every right to be angry. Next Sunday, Empoli arrives in Rome next Sunday, and De Rossi will have much to change. Otherwise, someone could change him. Conversely, Cagliari opened the season with an unexpected draw, and will aim the victory next Monday when the newcomers Como are coming to Sardinia.SERIE A – MATCHDAY 1SaturdayGenoa- Inter 2-2 (1-1)/Vogliacco 20, Messias 90+5(p) – Thuram 30, 82/Parma – Fiorentina 1-1 (1-0)/Man 22 – Biraghi 75/AC Milan – Torino 2-2 (0-1)/Morata 89 Okafor 90+5 – Thiaw 30(og), Zapata 68/Empoli – Monza 0-0SundayBologna – Udinese 1-1 (0-0)/Orsolini 57 pen – Giannetti 68/Verona – Napoli 3-0 (0-0)/Livramento 50, Mosquera 75, 90+4/Cagliari – Roma 0-0Lazio – Venezia 3-1 (2-1)/Castellanos 11, Zaccagni 44 pen, Altare 81 og – Andersen 3/Monday19:30: (3.90) Lecce (3.50) Atalanta (1.95)21:45: (1.37) Juventus (5.10) Como (10.0)***odds are subject to change***
