Scouting report of Cengiz Under as baby faced assassin scores winner for Roma

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  • Every weekend we scout one player under the age of 23 from around Europe and examine their performance to bring you an in-depth report.

    This time, we head to Serie A to check out Turkish baby-faced assassin, Roma winger Cengiz Under as he sealed all three points with a winner against Verona.

    STATISTICS 

    Goals – 1

    Assists – 0 

    Shots – 1 

    Shots on target – 1

    Touches – 56

    Passes – 34

    Key passes – 3

    Dribbles – 3

    Crosses – 3

    Turkish delight: Cengiz Under scores his first goal in Roma colours.

    Turkish delight: Cengiz Under scores his first goal in Roma colours.

    30-SECOND REPORT

    Roma have found a solution for their right-wing problems. With Stephan El Shaarawy struggling to make an impact in the position, Under is a candidate to take on the role full time.

    Having switched from a 4-3-3 to a 4-2-3-1, Under built on the hardworking performances of his previous three starts and was a real menace on the counter.

    His ability to cut inside sharper than drivers cheating traffic, had defenders second guessing and his ability to find Edin Dzeko on at least three occasions should have bore fruit with an assist to add to a stunning goal.

    Under thundered his first strike for Giallorossi in the opening seconds – a microcosm for what he can offer as he cut inside onto his left, showed great feet before producing an end product.

    A hardworking display hallmarked by a super strike.

    GOT RIGHT

    Delivery – Proficient with either foot, the Turkish winger displayed a wide range of crosses. He picked out target man Dzeko with flat and floated accurate crosses, even intelligently using his head to find the striker in one instance.

    Decision making – Under’s MO is obvious but effective. He wants to drive at defenders one v one, cut inside onto his left foot and swing in threatening crosses. His decision making, determination and timing was deeply impressive as he balanced between going direct and knowing when to release the ball.

    GOT WRONG

    One dimensional – While his strength is to cut inside onto that left foot, Under needs to add more weapons to his armoury. At times, he can be a little predictable once he shifts the ball onto his favoured foot so adding more variety will be key going forward.

    KEY MOMENTS

    1st min GOAL: Under shows great strength to snatch the ball off Rolando Aarons on the right side. He mishits the cross but Lorenzo Pellegrini picks up the clearance, feeds Under on the run and he shimmies the ball onto his left before letting fly with a bullet strike into the bottom corner.

    6th min CROSS: Brilliant pick out from Under who does well to redirect a header from the right into the path of Edin Dzeko. The striker has space to manoeuvre the shot but blazes his effort over the bar. Should have done better.

    15th min CROSS: Under sprints to the byline on his right foot, cuts back onto his favoured left to swing a dangerously deep ball into the box but Dzeko can only meekly strike the ball against goalkeeper Nicolas.

    70th min SUBSTITUTED: Pellegrini’s sending off meant Under was brought off with Gerson his replacement.

    VERDICT

    A sensational finish which proved to be the winner and the relief of scoring his first Roma goal will hopefully provide a platform for confident performances going forward.

    He’s still very raw and young of course but watching his talent unfold, you can’t help but feel there is a potential new star emerging from Italy.

    RATING: 7/10

    All statistics are compiled using whoscored.com

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