At home, Roma were well aware that the away match against Palermo was to be taken with a grain of salt, and if a team in form like Iachini's gives away the opening goal after two minutes, everything becomes more difficult. The negative protagonist was Astori, who in the disengagement phase handed the ball to Vazquez, who was quick to serve his twin Dybala for the 1-0 goal. Throughout the first half Roma suffered and never made themselves dangerous, with Destro and Iturbe unable to create real goal chances. Better in the second half, with Strootman in front of the defense and Pjanic more present in midfield. The equalizer came precisely from a free kick by the Bosnian, with Strootman's side for Destro able to score from a few steps away. A very heavy goal, which allowed Roma to limit the damage, despite another great opportunity for Palermo with Dybala, only in front of De Sanctis.
But coach Garcia didn't like his team's attitude: “In the first half we didn't play, we were planted, no movement. We meet a team in full confidence, and as soon as the game starts we give an off-season Christmas present. We have to get into the game right away: we tell ourselves, but we also have to do it. The boys have to understand that every moment of the game is important, we mustn't enter the game only when we concede goals. Right? It's not for sale, this is my thought and I won't change it". And the person concerned? “I'm a forward and I want to play – said the forward -, I only think about doing well and scoring goals. Was it the farewell goal? I do not know this…". Last year Roma finished the first round with 43 points, two more than this year. An alarm bell that scares a lot considering the pace held up to now by Juve.
If the Inter fans were deluded after the convincing victory against Genoa, they had to change their minds after the 0-0 draw in Empoli, a result that is much closer to the Tuscans than to the Nerazzurri. Sarri's men, in fact, pressed and attacked throughout the match, wasting several scoring chances and suffering from the fact of not having an area center forward capable of finalizing the enormous amount of work of the very fast playmakers, with the various Pucciarelli, Verdi and Croce able to keep the Inter defense in constant apprehension, in which the only one to save himself was Vidic (to evaluate the conditions of Ranocchia, who came out at half-time with a sprained left knee).
Mancini's men suffered, managing to create only one real goal in the whole match, the one wasted by Palacio who grazed the post with a diving header. That's all, with Icardi replaced by Kovacic after only 60 minutes, Hernanes and Guarin slow and out of the game, Podolski in late condition and never dangerous. In the final, Shaqiri also made his debut, but he failed to make the difference. “It was a step backwards compared to the match against Genoa – admitted Mancini after the match – because we did too little to win, we had to do more, they played very well. The team takes some time to grow, a victory is not enough to change the course of things. We need more personalities. We need to play the ball better from behind: if the action starts well then we can get to midfield and we can try to finish, but if we can't play three balls then it becomes difficult. One game doesn't change anything: there's work to do and that's it. Is the race for third place getting complicated? There is still the whole second round and we have to do it in an extraordinary way”. In the light of what has been seen, rather than two points lost it is appropriate to speak of a point gained.
