A splendid pre-Christmas Rome celebrated with a goleada against the Emilians thanks to goals from Dybala on a penalty kick and Saelemaekers in the first half and again from the Argentine, Paredes and Dovbyk in the second half. Ranieri can have a peaceful Christmas.
“CardioParma” was the headline in the stadium newspaper at the Olimpico for this match against the dangerous Emilians. And in fact, beyond the nice play on words, it was a very important match for Roma to get back up in the standings after the defeat in Como, however encouraged by the beautiful 4-1 victory in the Italian Cup against Sampdoria.
Mission successful for Claudio Ranieri, who can thus celebrate a peaceful Christmas, together with the many fans who did not miss the appointment at the Olimpico, with a 5-0 which gives optimism for the future. In thirteen minutes of the first half, the Giallorossi put the result in the safe and with three more goals in the second half they gave the many Olimpico fans a goleada.
A quarter of an hour of fire
Dovbyk returns to the Giallorossi as a starter after two games and Ranieri chooses to put Dybala and El Shaarawy behind him with Pellegrini on the bench. In Parma the only central defenders are Delprato and Balogh, while up front Haj, Almqvist and Man act behind Bonny.
The match starts immediately at a high pace. The first opportunity belongs to Parma with Bonny who, served by Sohm, goes just wide, but it's a flash in the pan because Roma immediately take control of the game and take the lead. Dybala, after an exchange with Dovbyk, enters the area and is put down by Balogh. It's a penalty kick and from eleven meters the Argentine doesn't make a mistake: 1-0 for Roma in the 8th minute.
Galvanized by the advantage, the Giallorossi continue to attack and in the 13th minute they doubled their lead with a great right-footed volley from Saelemaekers following a soft cross from Angelino at the far post.
A one-two knockout which however does not break down Parma, who try to react with two shots from distance from Valeri and Hernani, the first whistles just over the crossbar, on the second Svilar is forced to fly into the top corner to deflect the ball with the help of the crossbar. And after a weak header from El Sharaawy one-on-one with Suzuki, it was the Emilians who once again became dangerous with Sohm, who grazed the post in an extension. The last chance of the first half came from Roma, with El Shaarawy who from a tight angle served by Paredes failed to puncture Suzuki.
Goal celebration
In the second half Roma came out of the blocks more confident and after an opportunity for Kone who grazed the post, they found the third goal in a somewhat fortunate way: Salemaekers enters the area and shoots, the ball ends up on Dovbyk's back and the carom serves Dybala who can thus score into an empty net. After a long check at the VAR, the referee confirms the goal: a brace from the Argentine.
Parma, now knocked out, tried to react from distance, with a shot from Camara hitting the crossbar, but in the 74th minute Roma made poker. El Shaarawy serves Saelemaekers who enters the area and is pushed by Mihaila. It's a penalty kick, Dybala could score a hat-trick but gives the spot kick to Paredes, who is expecting a child. From the spot the Argentine displaces Suzuki and makes it 4-0.
Only Dovbyk is missing to join the party, and his teammates try to trigger him, in the 83rd minute Dybala freed by Kone instead of kicking serves him with a velvety touch and the Ukrainian sends it into the net completing the pokerissimo. In the final, Svilar kept a clean sheet after a strike from Man and Roma could have a peaceful Christmas.
