Roma's Ivorian gamble backfires in goalless stalemate
ByReuters
Updated 15/02/2015 at 19:55 GMT
AS Roma coach Rudi Garcia hoped the enthusiasm of African Nations Cup winners Gervinho and Seydou Doumbia would rub off on his team on Sunday but instead it was their fatigue which seemed to be contagious.
Parma's Alessandro Lucarelli (R) and AS Roma's Gervinho fight for the ball (Reuters)
Image credit: Reuters
The fading Serie A title challengers produced a ponderous performance as they were held to a 0-0 draw at home by basement side Parma, their sixth draw in eight league games and their fifth in a row at the Olympic Stadium.
Forward Gervinho returned to the side after helping Ivory Coast win the Nations Cup in Equatorial Guinea and compatriot Doumbia made his debut after his January move from CSKA Moscow.
"I hoped that their enthusiasm after winning the Nations Cup would rub off on the team, although I knew it would be difficult for them to play the 90 minutes," Garcia told reporters.
He admitted it was asking a lot of the pair, especially Doumbia who went home for the title celebrations and returned to Moscow to sort out some paperwork before travelling to Rome.
"Doumbia had a long journey before coming here and he only trained once with us, but we know the kind of player he is," said Garcia.
With leaders Juventus six points clear of second-placed Roma and still to face lowly Cesena on Sunday, the table did not make happy reading for Garcia whose side were jeered off the field.
"It's understandable that the public was disappointed after a 0-0 draw against the bottom team in the table," he said.
"We were better in the second half, with more rhythm. Our problem was in the first half when we were too slow.
"We don't need to look at the table anymore, but we do need to talk about playing a flowing game. If we play like we did in the second half, we can get back to winning again."
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