Roma-Lazio: First half tops and flops

18 nov 2017

It’s hard to think of scoreless halves as fun as the first in tonight’s Derby della Capitale. The lack of score belies the lack of opportunities for both sides to break through. Superb defending, and rock solid goalkeeping is all that’s kept this scoreless.

Here are the first half tops and flops:

TOPS:
•   THE CROWD: As expected, the Stadio Olimpico is electric tonight. It’s so loud players are having to scream into each other’s ears to organize set plays.

•   RADJA NAINGGOLAN: Did anyone actually think the man they call ‘Ninja’ was going to miss this match? Despite suffering a rupture on the right side of his groin, which ruled him out of Belgiums international matches last week, Nainggolan has been one of the most active men on the pitch so far.

•   THOMAS STRAKOSHA: The Lazio keeper made multiple top-class saves in the first half. The most impressive came off a cheeky backheel from Edin Dzeko from a corner kick. He was the best player on the pitch.

FLOPS:

There are none. That was fantastic football