Good evening all! Welcome to Sports Mole's live coverage of tonight's Serie A action between Roma and Cagliari.
We'll kick off the proceedings here with some team news...
Roma: Goicoechea; Piris, Marquinhos, Burdisso, Dodò; Bradley, Tachtsidis, Florenzi; Lamela, Osvaldo, Totti
Cagliari: Agazzi; Pisano, Rossettini, Astori, Avelar; Nainggolan, Conti, Ekdal; Sau, Thiago Ribeiro, Ibarbo
The big news is that goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg has been left out of the side after his move to Fulham collapsed at the last minute yesterday.
Mauro Goicoechea takes his place between the posts for the home side, while January signing Vasilis Torosidis takes his place in a strong lineup.
Thiago Ribiero, who earned Cagliari a vital point with a last minute equaliser in the
1-1 draw with Palermo, starts tonight.
An exciting front three of
Erik Lamela, Pablo Osvaldo and
Francesco Totti should cause problems for the away side tonight, though Roma are far from secure at the back - goals galore?
The teams are making their way out onto the Stadio Olimpico pitch. Not long to go now - let's hope we get a real exciting encounter tonight.
And we're off!
Victor Ibarbo causing problems early on for the Roma backline as the strong forward powers down the right-hand side. The move is closed down well eventually by the Roma defence.
GOAL! Roma 0-1 Cagliari (Nainggolan)
Some more fantastic work down the line by Cagliari as the ball is crossed into the box for Nainggolan to put into the back of the net.
That was poor defending from Roma, it must be said. They had plenty of men inside the box, but no-one bothered to pick up the run of Nainggolan, who finished well.
Great start from Cagliari, here. Roma haven't yet got to grips with their counter-attacking.
Roma are seeing plenty of the ball, but the away side are soaking up the pressure well. No sign of an equaliser!
Almost another quick break from Cagiliari as Ibarbo flies down the right wing. The pass is cut out well by Burdisso, though.
Dodo tries a strike from the edge of box, but his effort is blocked well by a stubborn Cagliari defence.
A half chance for Roma as
Erik Lamela gets on the end of a knock down from around 8 yards out, he just couldn't keep his strike down.
Some more great defending from Cagliari! Bradley sprays the ball out wide to Lamela, who shows the skills before being shut out by Avelar with an expert challenge.
Roma are beginning to push forward with much more attacking intent now - Lamela, Totti and Osvaldo seem to be involved much more.
After a solid five minutes of Roma pressure, Cagliari are trying to take the sting out of the game and keep hold of possession.
CHANCE! After clearing a Totti freekick, Cagliari break with pace to get Sau in on goal, but the finish was just lacking.
Osvaldo tries an audacious overhead kick in the box for Roma, but his effort doesn't trouble the goalkeeper.
Roma will have to be careful in this game - Cagliari have come with a plan to counter-attack and they are executing it perfectly!
Despite dominating prooceedings so far, Zeman's side have been very susceptible to the break.
And just as I type that, Ibarbo is almost played in again as he flies down the wing for what must be the sixth time so far tonight. So close!
Lamela has had to go off the field for treatment after being clattered in an over zealous challenge. The life of a flair player, eh?
Totti is starting to ease himself into the game more and more as it goes on. The veteran is slowly beginning to influence this game.
A mazy run from Lamela stretches Cagliari for the first time this evening, before the ball falls to Totti, who was eventually crowded out.
A freekick in a very dangerous area is awarded to Roma for the foul on Dodo. Totti stands over the ball...
A freekick in a very dangerous area is awarded to Roma for the foul on Dodo. Totti stands over the ball...
GOAL! Roma 1-1 Cagliari (Totti) The captain smashes the freekick through the wall - far too powerful for the goalkeeper to keep out.
That goal was definitely coming and you had a feeling that Totti was going to have a say in it. The renowned movement, touch and vision really starting to come together for the Roma legend.
Dodo bombs forward once again and fires a shot from distance - it was never going to trouble the goalkeeper!
As ever, Roma are keeping hold of the ball, but once they lose it, the likes of Ibarbo and Sau and off! The former was almost in again!
Astori brings down Totti to give away another freekick, though the set piece causes no problems this time around.
Ibarbo's sheer power and pace troubles Roma once more! It's eventually squeezed out for a corner, but I wouldn't want to be playing in that back line!
HALF-TIME: Roma 1-1 Cagliari
The referee brings a close to an enthralling first 45 minutes - both sides head in level.
Roma are completely dominating possession, but Cagliari are deadly on the break. The pace and power of Ibarbo and Sau is a real concern for Zeman, who will be hoping to address that in his team talk.
A score of 1-1 is fair, though. Cagliari started the brighter of the two sides - and threatened on the counter-attack throughout - but Roma definitely deserved their goal.
We saw the best bits of Totti in that half, too - vision, composure and an eye for goal. He could be the main threat, alongside Lamela and Osvaldo, for the home side in the second half.
Just looking at the replay of Nainggolan's goal - it was really poor defending from Roma. They just let the midfielder walk past them!
As has often been the case this season, Roma are very entertaining to watch, though plenty of credit must go to Cagliari for that first half.
I wouldn't like to call it in the second half - Roma could really dominate if they turn their possession into goals, but I very much doubt that their defence can keep Ibarbo and co. quiet. We're set for some excitement either way!
Both sides are on their way out - almost time for the restart.
We're back in action here at Stadio Olimpico. There's been no changes from either side, which isn't surprising given the performances.
GOAL! Roma 1-2 Cagliari (Goicoechea own goal)
An unbelievable error from the goalkeeper! Goicoechea seemed to have gathered a simple cross, but somehow he's managed to fumble it and drop it into his own goal! Outrageous.
There was no pressure from anyone, but Goicoechea's still made a mess of it. Roma have it all to do again!
CHANCE! Sau beats the offside trap and finds himself in on goal, but Goicoechea goes some way to redeem himself with a save.
Sau should've done better there - a huge chance to go 3-1 up!
GOAL! Roma 1-3 (Sau)
He has done better! Sau gets up extremely well to head home a cross from Ibarbo. Roma are all over the place at the back!
Well, what a start to the half from Cagliari! Two early goals in this second half give them a huge chance of taking all three points home.
Totti drives forward for Roma and gets a shot away, but his long-range effort is wide of the mark.
CHANCE! Totti strikes from ten yards, but his shot is well saved. He follows up with the rebound, which deflects wide for a corner. Roma are getting closer...
DOUBLE SUBSTITUTION! Zeman tries to change his side's fortunes, bringing on
Daniele De Rossi and Marquinho for Tachtsidis and Florenzi.
De Rossi's first involvement comes in the form of a 40 yard strike, which was closed down bravely by the Cagliari defence.
Roma dominating again, but Cagliari are dealing with the pressure very well.
Marquinho brings down Sau to give Cagliari a freekick on the right. The away side don't take advantage of the opportunity, though.
CHANCE! Cagliari hit Roma on the break - Ibarbo plays Thiago Ribeiro in and his strike hits the upright!
Roma living dangerously at the moment - the more they push forward, the more they leave gaps for Cagliari to exploit.
GOAL! Roma 1-4 Cagliari (Pisano)
Cagliari make it four! Those gaps in Roma's back line were fully exploited! Sau's curling shot hits the post and rebounds to Pisano, who slots home from close range to make it 4-1. Fantastic second half display from the away side, here.
Lamela thought he had pulled a goal back for Roma, but his finish from close range was correctly ruled out for offside by the linesman.
The Roma players look shocked, and rightly so! I don't think anybody expected Cagliari to be so clinical in this second half.
SUBSTITUTION! Luca Rossettini's game is over, he has replaced by Gabriele Perico after suffering an injury.
SUBSTITUTION! Daniele Conti is replaced Federico Casarini as Cagliari look to see out the game.
Marquinho races forward for Roma and is brought down near the edge of the area - another chance for Totti?
The same routine as the first freekick, but this time the Cagliari wall are wise to it and charge down Totti to block his strike.
Cagliari are beginning to spread the ball nicely in a bid to see out this game. They seem to believe they've got the three points and, as a result, are much more relaxed in possession.
Nainggolan is the architect in the middle of the park for Cagliari - the midfield dynamo has been everywhere since opening the scoring at the start of this game.
We've just seen a shot of a sullen Stekelenberg on the Roma bench - a penny for his thoughts right now?
Five minutes have been added on by the referee - to be honest, I think Roma just want this game over and done with!
Nainggolan bursts into action again for Cagliari, flying past De Rossi to bring his side out of their own half. An absolute imperious display from the Belgian tonight.
GOAL! Roma 2-4 Cagliari(Marquinho)
A consolation goal for Roma as Lamela's good work in getting the cross in from the right is finished off by Marquinho. Too late for Roma!
FULL-TIME: Roma 2-4 Cagliari
Well, I doubt anyone would've suspected that, but with this Roma side, anything can happen! Cagliari secure all three points with an impressive 4-2 win.
Roma dominated for large spells of the game, but simply couldn't handle the swift, devastating attacks from Cagliari. Sau, Ibarbo and Nainggolan were very, very impressive throughout.
Overall, Cagliari are well worth the win, but where does this leave the already under-pressure Zeman? It'll be interesting to see how this one plays out.
Check out the match report from Jack Prescott
here. Thanks for joining
Sport Mole
