#3 Roma missed Kevin Strootman in a number of ways
Dutchman Kevin Strootman couldn’t play because he was retrospectively banned for diving in the derby against Lazio. He was missed, in more ways than one.
When Roma are at their best, Radja Nainggolan is at their heart of everything they do. The Belgian is not a typical playmaker in terms of passing range, but he makes driving runs from deep to push his team forward. Without Strootman, he was made to sit closer to both Daniele De Rossi and Nikola Maksimovic, thus decreasing his impact before the break.
Neither Lemina nor Sturaro would have started for Juve if Allegri had played a full strength side, but they both took their chance with grateful hands, often finding pockets of space in behind both Maksimovic and De Rossi, which they perhaps wouldn’t have if Strootman was involved.
The opening goal came from high Juventus pressure, which allowed Sturaro to pick up possession and find Higuain with a floated cross, with the Argentine nodding into Lemina’s path
Nainggolan’s quality eventually shone through with his sublime goal in the second half, but the team missed Strootman’s game-management and positional sense overall.
