By Anna Italia
Follow me in Twitter @ItalianSerieA
68% Ball Possession AS ROMA and 32% Ball Possession NAPOLI
Roma 4 – 0 Catania 
18′ Mehdi Benatia
55′ Mattia Destro
59′ Mehdi Benatia
80′ Gervinho
Serie A Standing BEFORE the game:
AS Roma, 2nd position with 41 points and a positive goal difference of +28
Catania, 20th position with 10 points and a negative goal difference of -18
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | Goals | Diff. | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | AS Roma | 17 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 35:7 | 28 | 41 |
| 20 | Catania | 17 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 10:32 | -22 | 10 |
Stats BEFORE the game: Top scorer for AS ROMA: Alessandro Florenzi and Kevin Strootman with 4 goals each
Top scorer for CATANIA: Pablo Barrientos and Lucas Castro with 3 goals each
Great victory for AS Roma crushing Catania at the Olimpico di Roma Stadium. A victory giving hope to the Roman gladiators to continue dreaming with the Scudetto. The gap with Juventus is 5 points, Juve with 46 and Roma 41 points. Problem is for Catania ending 2013 in the last position of the table. Catania winning only 2 games this season.
Here is AS ROMA official starting lineup by coach Rudi Garcia:
AS ROMA (4-2-3-1):
De Sanctis; Maicon, Benatia, Castan, Dodò; Pjanic, Bradley, Gervinho, Francesco Totti, Ljajic;
Mattia Destro
Here is CATANIA official starting lineup by coach De Canio:
CATANIA (4-3-3):
Frison; Peruzzi, Rolin, Legrottaglie, Alvarez;
Izco, Guarente, Plasil; Barrientos, Leto, Castro
| Player | Goals | Goals | Player |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florenzi, Alessandro | 4 | 3 | Castro, Lucas |
| Strootman, Kevin | 4 | 3 | Barrientos, Pablo Cezar |
| Ljajic, Adem | 3 | 1 | Bergessio, Gonzalo |
| Totti, Francesco | 3 | 1 | Leto, Sebastian |
| Gervinho | 3 | 1 | Plasil, Jaroslav |
Stats. Here are the last 3 games of AS ROMA: 1 win, 2 draws
| 16/12/13 | SA | Milan – Roma |
2:2 | Round 16 |
| 08/12/13 | SA | Roma – Fiorentina |
2:1 | Round 15 |
| 01/12/13 | SA | Atalanta – Roma |
1:1 | Round 14 |
Here are the last 3 games of CATANIA: 1 draw, 2 lost
| 14/12/13 | SA | Catania – Verona |
0:0 | Round 16 |
| 08/12/13 | SA | Sampdoria – Catania |
2:0 | Round 15 |
| 01/12/13 | SA | Catania – Milan |
1:3 | Round 14 |
Click the video to watch the highlights of the match, AS ROMA vs CATANIA,
Sunday 22 December 2013, Olimpico di Roma Stadium, Rome, Italy, Serie A
Week 17
Commentaries radio cronaca by Carlo Zampa
Photos courtesy of asroma.it
Italian Serie A Week 17
AS Roma 4 – 0 Catania
Sunday 22 December 2013
Olimpico di Roma Stadium
Rome, Italy
15:00
Referee: GERVASONI
Assistants: BARBIRATI – LA ROCCA
Fourth Official: GRILLI
ADD1: ORSATO
ADD2: DI PAOLO
Attendance: 40,599
Goals: 18 Mehdi Benatia, 56′ Mattia Destro, 60′ Mehdi Benatia, 80, Gervinho
Official formations – lineups:
AS ROMA (4-2-3-1):
De Sanctis; Maicon, Benatia, Castan, Dodò; Pjanic (81′
Florenzi), Bradley, Gervinho, Totti (87′ F. Ricci), Ljajic;
Destro (59′ Taddei)
Subs not used: (Skorupski, Lobont, Burdisso, Jedvaj,
Romagnoli, Torosidis, Marquinho, Mazzitelli, Di Mariano).
Coach: Rudi Garcia.
CATANIA (4-3-3):
Frison; Peruzzi (45′ Biraghi), Rolin, Legrottaglie, Alvarez;
Izco, Guarente, Plasil; Barrientos, Leto (67′ Monzon), Castro
(60′ Bergessio)
Subs not used: (Andujar, Ficara, Capuano, Freire, Boateng,
Keko).
Coach: De Canio.
| Italian Serie A Week 17
AS Roma 4 – 0 Catania Sunday 22 December 2013 Olimpico di Roma Stadium Rome, Italy 15:00 Referee: GERVASONI |
||
| AS Roma |
Match Stats |
Catania |
| 4 | Goals | 0 |
| 21(10) | Shots (on goal) | 10(1) |
| 11 | Fouls | 19 |
| 9 | Corner kicks | 3 |
| 3 | Offsides | 1 |
| 68% | Ball Possession | 32% |
| 1 | Yellow Cards | 4 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 1 | Saves | 6 |
What do you think of the results? Which players surprised you or disappointed you and why?