Gian Piero Gasperini felt Roma’s late victory over Atalanta showed his players “really believe”, as they kept their winning Serie A start going in dramatic fashion.
The Giallorossi were clearly superior against another team that had a perfect record going into Saturday’s game, firing off 39 shots to Atalanta’s six.
They have only attempted more shots in a single Serie A game once in the 20-team era (since 2004-05), registering 46 against Venezia in May 2022.
Roma fell behind against the run of play to Ederson’s strike two minutes into the second half, but Mario Hermoso equalised with stoppage time looming and substitute Matias Soule – who had assisted the leveller – then struck a stoppage-time winner.
Gasperini’s men ended the game with 2.97 expected goals (xG), compared to Atalanta’s 0.7, while they also racked up an astonishing 78 touches in the opposing area.
Roma have started a season with three straight wins for the first time since 2022-23 under Jose Mourinho, but Gasperini feels the manner of the victory was just as important.
“We were against a strong team, and were trailing from their first shot. After the first half was one-way traffic,” Gasperini told Sky Sport Italia.
“With this heat, when you attack constantly and don’t score, you risk using up energy.
“However, we kept pushing to the end, and when you win in added time after losing at the 89th minute, that’s a sign the squad really believes.”
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Donyell Malen was uncharacteristically quiet in the Roma attack, managing three shots worth 0.1 xG before being replaced by summer signing Santiago Castro just past the hour.
Asked if he expected the duo to play together at some point, Gasperini said: “They can certainly co-exist, but we’ll see.
“After the international break, there will be a packed fixture list of big games, so we will have opportunities for everyone, and we will vary the tactical systems.
“Soule was decisive, Molina brought some quality, so this is what we were trying to do this summer, to complete the squad with substitutes who can raise the level.
“In terms purely of numbers, we are two or three players worse off than last season, but the quality has increased and [this] result shows that. I still had [Marten] De Roon, [Konstantinos] Koulierakis and [Devyne] Rensch on the bench; [Lorenzo] Pellegrini is injured.
“The important thing is that we don’t get injuries, because we don’t have the right numbers for a Champions League squad, but we do have the strength in depth for quality.”
Roma will attempt to maintain their perfect start at Torino on September 14, after opening their Champions League campaign against Fenerbahce on Thursday.
