{"id":677808,"date":"2026-05-18T16:33:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T16:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/677808\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T16:33:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T16:33:08","slug":"cult-hero-mancini-delivers-derby-win-for-roma-after-serie-a-scheduling-nightmare-serie-a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/677808\/","title":{"rendered":"Cult hero Mancini delivers derby win for Roma after Serie A scheduling nightmare | Serie A"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Rome derby on the penultimate weekend of a Serie A<\/a> season could never be a low-stakes occasion. Scudetto wins come rarely in Italy\u2019s capital city \u2013 Roma and Lazio have only five between them \u2013 leaving neighbourly bragging rights as the next-most important prize on offer. It is an intense, bitter rivalry that has produced countless iconic moments \u2013 from Francesco Totti taking selfies under the Curva to a cup-winning goal by Senad Lulic \u2013 if sadly also many violent clashes between supporters.<\/p>\n

And, of course, it matters more when either side has tangible objectives left to play for. As recently as late April that did not appear very likely. Roma were sixth \u2013 five points adrift of the Champions League places \u2013 and Lazio<\/a> ninth. But then the Giallorossi got on a roll, just as Milan and Juventus started dropping points. A win in the derby now could propel them into the top four, if either of those sides slipped up again.<\/p>\n

Lazio\u2019s own hopes of qualifying for Europe had been dashed when they lost the Coppa Italia final to Inter on Wednesday. But misery loves company, and denying Roma\u2019s ambitions would be a worthy consolation. All of which made it more astonishing that, one day before the game, nobody seemed sure if their manager would even show up.<\/p>\n

Maurizio Sarri had warned after the cup defeat that he might not. At the time it was unclear which day the derby would take place. A clash with the men\u2019s singles and women\u2019s doubles finals of the Italian Open tennis tournament, taking place just a few hundred metres outside the Stadio Olimpico, within the city\u2019s grandiose Foro Italico sports complex, had thrown the entire schedule of Serie A games into chaos.<\/p>\n

The derby was originally designated by the league as a 12.30pm Sunday kick-off. But on Tuesday the Rome prefect announced that it would be pushed back to the following Monday, at 8.45pm, instead. The local authority had concluded that it would simply be too difficult to guarantee public safety with both events happening at once. Even Italy\u2019s Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, got involved, insisting this was the \u201conly viable solution\u201d.<\/p>\n

Such a short-notice rearrangement, however, would not only impact Roma and Lazio. The league\u2019s rules require that any teams competing for the same targets during the final two rounds of a season must have their games kick-off simultaneously. Napoli, Juventus, Milan and Como were still fighting with Roma for those last two Champions League spots, so all their fixtures would need to be rescheduled too.<\/p>\n

A logistical nightmare, above all for travelling supporters. The league\u2019s organising body \u2013 Lega Serie A \u2013 launched an urgent legal appeal against the postponement to the regional administrative court.<\/p>\n

The matter was still unresolved when Lazio played Inter in the Coppa Italia final on Wednesday, losing 2-0. Sarri, who has vocally opposed all lunchtime kick-offs for about as long as he has coached top-flight football teams, suggested he would boycott the derby if it reverted to the original schedule.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s on Monday I\u2019ll come,\u201d he said. \u201cIf it\u2019s Sunday at 12.30pm I won\u2019t \u2026 If I was the [Lazio] president [Claudio Lotito] I wouldn\u2019t have the team show up either, and we\u2019ll take a point penalty. These teams are competing for the Champions League \u2013 worth \u20ac80m \u2013 and they\u2019re going to play at 12.30pm? This isn\u2019t football.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, the game would wind up being moved even earlier. The courts returned the issue to the league and the Rome prefect, telling them to sort it out themselves. Finally, on Thursday, it was agreed that the derby \u2013 along with Como v Parma, Genoa v Milan, Juventus v Fiorentina, and Pisa v Napoli, would all kick off on Sunday, at midday \u2013 that extra half hour apparently easing concerns about the policing of events in the capital.<\/p>\n

There are more layers to this story, encompassing the booming popularity of tennis in Italy and breathtaking organisational inertia from Serie A\u2019s organisers and local authorities in Rome. This clash has been foreseeable since the fixture list was published last June, how could it take until the week of the game to address it?<\/p>\n

At some point, though, this column needs to get on to the football. Sarri did turn up in the end, though Lazio\u2019s supporters mostly did not \u2013 ultras staging yet another boycott in protest against Lotito\u2019s ownership. Roma were the designated home team, and their fans made the most of having the place to themselves, creating a boisterously one-sided atmosphere.<\/p>\n

Lazio\u2019s Maurizio Sarri threatened to boycott the early kick-off but was on the touchline for his side\u2019s defeat. Photograph: Guglielmo Mangiapane\/Reuters<\/p>\n

The game was predictably scrappy, high on commitment but low on standout quality. Lazio thought they had taken the lead through Boulaye Dia midway through the first half, but in fact he was a mile offside. Instead, the Roma centre-back Gianluca Mancini put his team in front before half-time with a header from Niccol\u00f2 Pisilli\u2019s corner.<\/p>\n

He ran the length of the pitch, away from Lazio\u2019s deserted Curva Nord, to celebrate with Roma\u2019s ultras at the opposite end. A fan favourite, Mancini joined the Giallorossi from Atalanta in 2019 and had won supporters over with his full-blooded commitment at centre-back long before he scored the winner in another derby, back in April 2024.<\/p>\n

Now 30 years old, he has made 20 appearances for the Italian national team but still never played in the Champions League, having arrived in the summer after Roma\u2019s last participation. That might finally be about to change.<\/p>\n

Mancini sealed Roma\u2019s 2-0 victory with another header, from another corner, in the 66th minute. This time he appeared more confused than excited as the ball went in. \u201cI couldn\u2019t even believe I had scored again,\u201d he confessed afterward. \u201cI didn\u2019t know how to celebrate.\u201d<\/p>\n

By now the mood inside the Stadio Olimpico was transforming from cauldron to carnival \u2013 even as both teams had a player sent off for an on-field scuffle. Juventus were losing 1-0 at home to Fiorentina. Before long, word would come through that they had conceded again, Rolando Mandragora serving the killer blow.<\/p>\n

Quick GuideSerie A matchesShow<\/p>\n

Cagliari 2-1 Torino, Sassuolo 2-3 Lecce, Udinese 0-1 Cremonese, Atalanta 0-1 Bologna, Inter 1-1 Verona, Como 1-0 Parma, Genoa 1-2 Milan, Juventus 0-2 Fiorentina, Pisa 0-3 Napoli, Roma 2-0 Lazio<\/p>\n

Thank you for your feedback.<\/p>\n

As the full-time whistles went, Roma were up to fourth<\/a> \u2013 on course for their first Champions League qualification in seven years. A scenario that seemed implausible less than a month ago, when their season appeared to be coming apart amid an escalating power struggle between the Roma manager, Gian Piero Gasperini, and his predecessor, Claudio Ranieri, still serving as senior adviser to the club\u2019s owners<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But then Ranieri left, and Roma, after a miserable spring, got back on track. They have beaten Bologna, Fiorentina, Parma and Lazio in consecutive games \u2013 their longest winning run in Serie A all season. One more victory, away to relegated Verona, would guarantee them a spot in the top four.<\/p>\n

They savoured the moment, lingering in the sunshine that bathed the Olimpico. Gasperini was in the middle of it, grinning, hugging, physically shoving players under the Curva to receive the adulation they merited. For some, including Paulo Dybala, who provided the assist for the second goal, this might have been a final home game.<\/p>\n

Gasperini was not a universally popular appointment last summer, having needled Roma supporters during his almost decade-long stint as a rival at Atalanta. He said on Sunday that, when he accepted the job, he had given himself three years to start winning things.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew I was the least well-suited candidate to create a bond with the people here,\u201d continued Gasperini. \u201cI came to make a team play football, and I think I\u2019ve been appreciated for that. The most important thing for me, beyond the result, is having earned that credibility with the fans. That\u2019s worth more than a Scudetto.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Rome derby on the penultimate weekend of a Serie A season could never be a low-stakes occasion.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":677809,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,561,82],"class_list":["post-677808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=677808"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677808\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/677809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=677808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=677808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=677808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}