The Coppa Italia is a single-elimination system until the semi-finals, so Roma have the upper hand when they draw at home.

Although Torosidis did not score, it gave confidence to the Roma fans in the stands and they were all relaxed.

Even if Sampdoria were all in the squad for this game, so what?

The ultimate winner is definitely ours!

But as the game progressed, the minds of Roma fans changed little by little.

They found that Sampdoria, who were playing away, could not be at a disadvantage in the face of Roma's attack.

Sampdoria, who played defensive counter-attacks, did not have many attacking opportunities, but every counter-attack was very threatening.

Compared to them, Roma who are besieging Sampdoria look like they are in a big position, but the actual threat is much smaller than Sampdoria, and Torosidis' shot is Roma's most dangerous attack.

Alberto Massi, who had lost weight in this game, was back in the starting line-up and he was full of energy, very positive and brilliant – he didn't want to be on the bench anymore, and it was a bad feeling to sit on the bench and watch the team lose the game last time.

Marcy had also played as a substitute before, but at that time he didn't feel it so deeply. Since he sat firmly in the main force, he couldn't accept it anymore if he let him play as a substitute.

It's really easy to go from thrift to luxury, and it's hard to go from luxury to thrift......

In addition to Sampdoria being better defensively, in attack, Sampdoria is also more threatening. This naturally depends on Gao Zheng's outstanding performance.

It's no secret that Sampdoria's attack is centered on Gao Zheng.

It stands to reason that Sampdoria's opponents know this, as long as they contain Gao Zheng.

But how can Gao Zheng be so easy to contain?

As a centre-forward, he has a very large range of motion and a well-rounded technique, with little technical blind spots other than his header - all-around left and right foot, excellent ball protection, not very fast, but he can break through with a change of pace and pure technique, first-class running without the ball, accurate shooting footwork, and an excellent free kick - what do you say to let the opponent do?

Although his header is not good, he can control a lot of high balls.

Not being physically fit may be another of his obvious weaknesses, but he also has excellent free-kick skills. Even if you don't have an advantage in physical contact, you can use this to get yourself a free kick. So when Gao Zheng took the ball near the opponent's penalty area, the defenders thought of his free kick ability and "fake fall", and they all threw a mouse bogey, and they didn't dare to use it because of the advantage of physical strength......

With Berardi and Zaza running tirelessly, Gao Zheng could have withdrawn to play for his teammates, and then cut into the air without the ball, further increasing the difficulty of the Roma players defending - they could not only defend Gao Zheng, but also ignore the other two strikers of Sampdoria, in which case Berardi would certainly not mind teaching them how to behave with goals.

In addition, Zaza is also a striker that cannot be ignored.

"Gao Miaochuan! Berardi swept the ball in front of goal, Zaza ——!! It's dangerous! Zaza's tackle shot was just slightly off! ”

There was a burst of exclamations from the stands at the Stadio Olimpic, which, although no goals were scored, scared the Roma fans enough.

And it's not the first time.

The relaxed smiles of the Roma fans in the stands are fading.

Rudy Garcia, who had been sitting in the coach's box, also got up from his seat and walked back to the sidelines to pac around, nervously watching the field.

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Relying on excellent defensive counter-attacks, Sampdoria and Roma were tied in the first half. When the referee blew the whistle at the end of the first half, the score was 0:0.

The score is acceptable for Sampdoria, but not for Roma.

So after the fifteen-minute half-time break, Rudy Garcia took the lead in making substitutions.

He replaced right winger Florenzi with Gervinho, a quick-moving winger who moved from Arsenal this season and quickly established himself at Roma. Because Rudy Garcia had worked with him when he was in charge of Lille and Le Mans, and the two men knew each other well, Gervinho was at home under Garcia, and has scored four goals and provided five assists in the league so far. There were also three goals in the Coppa Italia.

Rudy Garcia is clearly hoping to strengthen the team's attacking quality by bringing on Gervinho, who has outstanding speed and good foot skills, and strong individual combat ability, which can put Sampdoria under more pressure in attack, and at the same time force Zaza on this side to be more involved in defense and have no time to attack.

Seeing Gervinho on the pitch, the Roma fans applauded enthusiastically, and they pinned their hopes of breaking the deadlock on the "little Drogba".

However, Gervinho had just come on and had no chance to perform, and the deadlock had already been broken.

It's just that the side that broke the deadlock was not the home team Roma, but the away team Sampdoria!

Gao Zheng pulled to the side to receive the ball, and when Zaza crossed the edge from behind him, the attention of Roma left-back Torosidis was very briefly diverted to Zaza.

But at this moment, Gao Zheng suddenly got up on the spot, and without any running, he suddenly passed the football to the goal with the outside instep of his right foot!

The ball made a beautiful arc and went around the head of Argentine centre-back Burdisso, and was caught by Berardi, who was stumbling diagonally in front of the goal, and he jumped up and shook his head at the goal!

With such a powerful header on the goal line, Roma's young goalkeeper Lucas Skolopski, who started the game, had no time to make any saves and could only watch the ball fly into his goal.

Berardi ——!! OOOOOOOOOOOO！！ Sampdoria take the lead on the road! 1:0！ The home team is now behind! ”

There was a brief silence at the Olympic Stadium in Rome at the moment of the goal, and they never expected that it was Sampdoria who scored first......

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"Gao's assist is really subtle and sudden, and it is extremely accurate! This outer instep is truly mesmerizing! Careza watched the replay and marveled.

Bergomi also nodded: "He took the only chance he had, very clever approach. Now the game of Roma is more difficult to play, Sampdoria is mainly based on defensive counterattacks, and after taking the lead, they are afraid that they will play defensive counterattacks more easily......"

In the Sampdoria dugout, head coach Di Francesco rushed out with open arms when he saw the goal, raising his arms and shouting on the sidelines.

The team supported his plan with practical actions.

And Rudy Garcia had to think about another person.

When there is a stalemate on the pitch, a substitute for Gervinho may break the deadlock. But now that the balance has been broken, a Gervinho seems a little insecure.

He set his sights on the resolute face on the bench.

Although the owner of this face has missed six games due to injury in the past, it has not been long since he returned from injury. But at times like these, only this person may be able to bring strength to the team.

After all, he is the "wolf king", a symbol of the city and this team.

He walked up to the man and said, "Francisco, Rome needs you. ”

Without saying a word, Francisco Totti took off his coat to protect him from the cold, put on his training vest, and ran to the warm-up area.