Gian Piero Gasperini Relishes Rome Derby Win As Maurizio Sarri Decries Costly Mistake

Written By Onyeka Daniel

It was a thrilling affair today at the Stadio Olimpico as Lazio and Roma faced off for the first Rome derby of the new season and Roma were able to triumph over their rival in the ill tempered match that showed the level of rivalry between the two clubs with two red cards.

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The Giallorossi secured a 1-0 win over Biancocelesti, giving their manager, Gian Piero Gasperini a perfect debut in the Derby della Capitale as Lorenzo Pellegrini made his first appearance this season and scored his fourth goal against Lazio, giving Roma all three points.

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Meanwhile, for the former Atalanta coach, he revealed that Pellegrini deserved to start in the Rome derby because of his performances in recent training sessions and reveals players could not hear him towards the end of the game because of the noise inside the Olimpico.

“I see the players in training, I see how Pellegrini has been moving and working, so I had no doubts starting him today. He is a lad with great quality, we all know that, and has such great technique. I am very happy with the performance.” Gasperini told DAZN Italia in his post match interview.

“At least I was until Lazio went a man down, at which point we risked compromising a match we had in hand.” He continued. Roma have not scored more than one goal in any of their four games so far this season, so do players like Pellegrini scoring from midfield boost their options?

“Pellegrini has a good finish, he times the runs into the box well, but his focus must be on midfield and then have the opportunity to score goals. With the strikers, we can help them all to grow, as they are eager to learn and develop. Both Ferguson and Soule worked for the team, so did Dovbyk when he came off the bench.”

“As they grow, the level of the whole performance will increase. We need everyone to improve their attacking movements, give it a little bit more, to create more goals for this team.” Pellegrini saw the captain’s armband taken off him and was told his contract would not be extended beyond June 2026, but he remains committed.

Did his status as a lifelong fan give him extra heart in this derby? “I just met him this season, but we saw heart from everyone today, not just those who are from Rome. He is a good player, but if he can become an athlete too, then he’ll raise his level considerably,” insisted Gasperini.

“The team is in good shape, we had some difficulties last weekend against Torino where we couldn’t play with the right tempo, perhaps because we took some things for granted. This is a process; there will be ups and downs, so I am looking for improvements both on an individual and a team level.”

“We’ve got to get everyone up to speed so that we can become a stronger group and have more options. I was impressed with Rensch today, for example.” This was the first-ever Derby della Capitale for Gasperini as coach of Roma, so how did he feel about getting the victory?

“I am very happy with the derby, even if it was so loud towards the end that they couldn’t hear me! It was such a favourable situation for us, and we risked giving away a goal; we cannot waste what we did in those minutes against a team down to 10 men,” concluded the coach.

“I know the fans feel particularly deeply about this fixture, so we’re glad to give them this joy. Now I need to think about how to improve those final 10 minutes!” He further added and as for the goalscorer, who scored his fourth goal in a Rome derby on he these to say:

“There is so much, I did get moved after the goal. Not everyone knows, but since I got hurt, those close to me know how much I cared about getting back here. If I managed it today, to start the match and win the derby for my people, that is for my family.” Pellegrini told DAZN.

“You are all my family and helped me during this difficult time. I know there are those who love me in the stands, and I never doubted it. I love them too. I believe this team has so much more to give, as so many great men with character who care about Roma are in here.”

“I feel proud to be one of the many captains, those responsible for passing on the passion for Roma to those who have just arrived and haven’t realised where they are. That includes Mancini, who is my brother from another mother.” He continued as the Italian defender joined Pellegrini for a post-match interview with DAZN.

Pellegrini was linked with leaving the Stadio Olimpico during the summer transfer window and his future at the club remains uncertain given that his contract runs out in June 2026. “Aside from all the reasoning and words, there is one constant, which is that I love Roma,” said Pellegrini.

“As long as I wear this jersey, there won’t be a moment when I will hold back. Life is unpredictable; you don’t know what could happen next. After all, I seemed on the verge of leaving and then got hurt, but I returned from the start and scored to win the derby.” He continued.

Roma have now won three games from four in Serie A and have nine points in the table and Lazio, on the other hand, have only collected three points with one win and three defeats and then two of their players, Reda Belahyane and Matteo Guendouzi, were sent off late into the game.

As for Maurizio Sarri, he feels that they didn’t deserve to lose. “We had four or five clear chances, we could have taken the lead in the first half,” the former Chelsea and Juventus coach told DAZN. “We lost the game because of a bad error. We’ll see if it’s a technical mistake or he was superficial.”

“We played a good game, but we lost it this way. We are sorry for our fans. They supported us. I’m sorry for the team too, they didn’t deserve to lose,” he continued. The Italian tactician had made some surprising line-up decisions, including starting Boulaye Dia instead of Valentin Castellanos.

Nicolò Rovella was picked in central midfield despite not being fully fit and the Italian got injured in the first half. “Dia had trained well during the week and it was fair to give him a chance. The team created some chances today even if we struggled after conceding,” Sarri explained.

“Rovella got injured in the first half, but using the second slot in the first half was too much so I asked him to play until the break despite suffering. I think we deserved to draw. We had a skid after their goal, but until that moment, we hadn’t conceded much and had a couple of chances.”

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“Until minute 38, I didn’t see signals we could lose this match.” Coupled with their results this season, this is the second Rome derby lost by Sarri, so what sort of reaction does he expect from his players? “I expect the same anger and sadness, but the other time it was a 3-0 loss after 20 minutes, this is a different story,” he concluded.

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