
Gasperini's Roma keep conceding at the start of the second half
Roma's first-half-of-the-second-half problem is becoming impossible to ignore: with Edin Zaniolo's goal, the club have now conceded five goals in the first five minutes of the second half since the start of the season. The Gian Piero Gasperini side win, score and rarely lose, but the pattern has become increasingly evident. Last season, Roma conceded just four such goals across the entire campaign, so something has clearly changed. Roma now press more, have a clear identity and appear comfortable at every stage of a match. Those opening five minutes after the break, however, remain a weak point, and the problem points above all to the team's mental resilience. The issue is far from accidental. In Udine, there was some mitigation in the four-goal cushion, with a drop in tension that is understandable. But that does not erase the problem. Gasperini's machine works beautifully, yet one cog still needs fixing.


