The goal would make him reborn, he could drive out all his insecurities and then start the championship in the best way in January. One goal that did not come, and in the end it was his former fans who celebrated. Andrea Belotti was lost and could not find himself. And his mistake from the diskette risked compromising also the result (however disappointing) of his new team. Fortunately – for him and for Roma – he arrived two minutes after Matic’s draw that brought the result back to a draw.
The ridge remains low
But it has not brought back the serene in the Rooster that has already stopped singing for a month. The striker has not scored in the league since last May and the only two goals scored in the Giallorossi have been scored in the Europa League, the last on 13 October. Too little for an attacker called to be more than a reserve, especially given the negative period of Abraham. Instead, he wasted the opportunity to get back on the crest and come back to cheer under the Curva Sud, together with the fans. Generous performance, no doubt, but little consistent in the offensive phase. So he tried to unlock himself with rigor. That he shouldn’t have beaten him. Because Belotti was not the first rigorist of the team among those who were on the field, he should have beaten Dybala, but also Zaniolo.
Ten wrong penalties
Belotti instead asked for the ball, he wanted to score against Torino, of which he was captain for five seasons, scoring 100 goals in Serie A. Probably thinking too much about his need and too little about problems from the spot. Belotti in fact missed the tenth penalty (fourth time he hit a wood) out of 36 kicked, or 27.8% of the penalty beaten. No one has missed more than him since his first penalty in Serie A (Palermo-Fiorentina, season 14-15). «Belotti missed the penalty, but at least he had the courage to pull it», said Mourinho after the race. A slight consolation for him, Roma and the same Belotti who at the end of the game went to the Curva Sud to apologize. A hand raised towards them, a mea culpa that did not dissolve the fans who booed him as the whole team (except for Dybala).
Renewal at risk
The 28-year-old was not criticized by Mourinho for his attitude because both in training and on the field he spends his time for his teammates, he helps the team in the cover phase and tries to make himself dangerous in attack. It’s just not enough, especially for a Roma team that has obvious scoring problems with only eighteen goals scored in the league. If it is true that the best medicine for an attacker is to return to the goal, yesterday afternoon the Gallo has devoured the opportunity to succeed in making disappear a part of his insecurities. During the break he will have to work long to get back in shape – athletically and mentally – to be able to help the team and to help: because without goals even his contract renewal (expiring in June) can hardly be realized.
