Sinners & Saints: Roma 4, Lecce 1

With all apologies, continuing our Sinners & Saints series this season has been challenging. For practical and personal reasons, our traditional post-match player rating series has fallen by the wayside this year. Besides, given how poorly the team has played for most of 2024, did you really want an immediate reminder of how far the Giallorossi have tumbled this season?

However, yesterday’s 4-1 victory over Lecce has provided a reprieve. For only the second time this season and just the sixth time in 2024, Roma won by more than one goal. Yes, things have been that bleak in the Eternal City. And while Claudio Ranieri's first win in his third stint as Roma's manager barely made a dent in the standings, it should give the Giallorossi a bit more breathing room as they fight to stave off relegation.

As you might have guessed, given that rollicking scoreline, today's rendition will be packed with halos. So, without further delay, away we go!

The Saints Leandro Paredes

We'll kick things off with Lovely Leo, who reminded us how instrumental he can be on any night. In 90 minutes, the soon-to-be-Boca-bound midfielder took a match-high 108 touches and put on a master class in passing, racking up 598 yards of progressive passing, three key passes, five shot-creating actions, and nine balls played into the final third. Paredes was no slouch in defense either, winning three tackles, intercepting one pass, clearing one ball, and making ten recoveries.

A vintage performance from Paredes prompted Ranieri to joke, “If it was up to me, if I was the long-term coach, I’d keep him... Can you imagine if I turned out to be the new coach?”

Yes, Claudio. Yes, I can.

Stephan El Shaarawy

Speaking of vintage performances. While he didn't score one of his trademarked acrobatic scissor-kick goals from the edge of the box, El Shaarawy turned in a fine performance. In 80 minutes, El Shaarawy doled out two assists and three key passes while adding four progressive carries and a game-high five carries into the final third to his tally.

Mats Hummels

See Ivan Juric? This is what happens when you give an aging veteran a chance to get up to speed. After spending the first few months of his Roma career sick, injured, or simply left out of the action, Hummels has come to life under Ranieri's watch. Going the full 90, the soon-to-be 36-year-old center-back attempted eight tackles (winning three—both top marks of any Roma player), intercepted one pass, cleared three balls, and recovered 14 loose balls, the highest mark in Serie A this season. Shit, Hummels even pulled off one successful dribble and two carries into the final third.

As his performance with Dortmund last season proved, if you can properly manage his minutes, he can still excel.

Niccolo Pisilli

The young Roman had a productive 34-minute spell against Lecce last night. Coming off the bench early in the second half, Pisilli took 14 touches, scoring in the 66th minute, while adding one key pass and playing two balls into the final third for good measure.

Gianluca Mancini

Roma’s stand-in captain had a quiet night defensively but struck the decisive, match-winning goal in the 59th minute, stooping down low to flick a glancing header past Wladimiro Falcone's outstretched hands.

Alexis Saelemaekers

The man with more e's in his name than I can keep straight had a breakout performance for the Giallorossi last night. After spending most of the season on the shelf with an ankle injury, the versatile Belgian forward wormed his way into Ranieri's starting lineup and rewarded the Tinkerman with a solid performance, indicating better days ahead. In 56 minutes of action, Saelemaekers scored the opening goal on a slow dribbler but turned in a club-high four attempts, putting two on target while also creating one big chance, per Sofascore.

Evan Ndicka

The Ivorian defender turned in another stalwart performance for the capital club. In 90 minutes, Ndicka completed six defensive actions (three clearances and three interceptions) while completing 89% of his passes, playing four balls into the final third and winning a match-high six aerial duels.

Manu Koné

Koné, a 23-year-old French midfielder, continued to cement his case as Roma's signing of the summer with another stellar turn in the center of the park. Going the full 90, Koné managed 65 touches, completing 93% of his passes while adding two key passes, six shot-creating actions, and three progressive carries to the mix before finishing the match off with a flourish—a wonderfully struck right-footed shot in the middle of three Lecce defenders.

Paulo Dybala

Sporting a slightly longer hairdo this season, La Joya has suffered his fair share of ups and downs but was nearly back to his old self against Lecce on Saturday. While he didn't find the back of the net, Dybala was arguably Roma's chief creator last night, chipping in four key passes, playing six balls into the penalty area, and adding a game-high seven shot-creating actions for good measure.

Given the lopsided scoreline and the absence of any truly horrendous errors, we'll stow away the pitchforks and head straight for the muddled middle ground where neither sinners nor saints exist.

Stuck in Between Saud Abdulhamid: The young Saudi full-back had his best performance in a Giallorossi shirt last night, showcasing potentially game-changing speed and setting up Pisilli's goal with a great square ball from the right flank. He's got a long way to go before he becomes a reliable starter, but the physical traits are certainly there. Angeliño: It was a relatively quiet night for the Spanish full-back, who managed only three balls into the final third and two defensive actions in 90 minutes. Mario Hermoso: Were we excited when Roma signed him this summer? It's hard to remember. One gets the feeling that his stay in Italy will be short. Mile Svilar: He only faced three shots the entire evening, so for his sake, I hope he entertained himself yesterday. Nicola Zalewski: A token 10-minute appearance for the 22-year-old, who looks increasingly likely to leave the club in January.

That's it for this rendition of Sinners & Saints, but we'll see you after Thursday's Europa League encounter with Braga.