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In a high-voltage Derby della Capitale in the Serie A, Daniele De Rossi's AS Roma defeated Lazio for the first time in two years as defender Gianluca Mancini scored a brilliant header off Argentine forward Paulo Dybala's cross in the first half. The match was marred by on-field conflicts between the two sides that saw nine yellow cards including Roma's coach. However, Mancini's post-match antics were highly criticised by fans as he waved a Lazio flag with a rat on it.
In the 42nd minute, Paulo Dybala's cross from the corner was deflected by the 27-year-old Gillarossi centre-back to break the deadlock while the goal was enough to clinch three points from the derby clash. After the win, the goal-scorer for Roma took his teammates under the South to celebrate and waved a Lazio flag that had a black rat on it.
After being heavily criticised for the incident, Mancini apologised on Roma's social channels and stated, "I didn't want to offend anyone, I celebrated with my fans. There could be a bit of joviality, these are intense matches. I took the first flag they gave me, but these are things that start and end there. Without disrespecting anyone, I apologize, I just wanted to celebrate with the fans."
Watch Mancini wave the Lazio flag with the rat:
Dybala shows Guendouzi his shin pad during Rome derby
The clash between Roma and Lazio featured just one goal, however, the players from both sides squared off against each other multiple times on the field during the game. Among those players, Roma star Paulo Dybala and Lazio midfielder Matteo Guendouzi clashed a couple of times during the match.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup winner with Argentina, Dybala, mocked the 24-year-old French midfielder after the final whistle. Dybala showed his shin pad, which has a picture of him lifting the World Cup trophy, to Guendouzi, who grabbed the Argentine's face pressing his thumbs into Dybala's cheeks.
Watch the video here:
