Alasdair Mackenzie reports from the Stadio Olimpico, Rome.

After relentless rain on Saturday, the blazing Roman sun broke through the clouds like a starting whistle for spring on Sunday.

Walking through throngs of smiling Romanisti on the way to the Stadio Olimpico, the weekend’s weather felt like a neat metaphor for Roma’s season: a stormy first half followed by a bright second.

But once darkness fell, and a chaotic clash with Como got underway, an Italian proverb soon sprang to mind: Marzo pazzerello; esce il sole, prendi l’ombrello (Crazy March; when the sun comes out, bring an umbrella).

When the full-time whistle sounded, Roma fans felt like they were bathing in warm rays again as they celebrated yet another victory, a 2-1 win that continued their remarkable 2025 and saw the club notch four straight league wins for the first time in five years.

But the umbrellas were needed too, so to speak. For most of the opening hour, Como were in control. They dominated possession in a first half where their courage and conviction to play the game their own way was rewarded when skipper Lucas Da Cunha sprinted through the heart of the Giallorossi defence before finishing calmly.

This was a game where ‘master v apprentice’ narratives were hard to miss: calcio’s great senator Claudio Ranieri against rising star Cesc Fabregas, the battle of the Argentina No. 10s Paulo Dybala and Nico Paz, or simply with the Serie A stalwarts facing the newly-promoted upstarts.

But in the second half, with the apprentice threatening to bloody the nose of a third consecutive big-name opponent following wins over Fiorentina and Napoli, Ranieri rolled out his heavy artillery in a bid to overwhelm Como. It worked.

Alexis Saelemaekers scored with a deflected strike within a minute of coming on, and the tide turned almost immediately afterwards with Marc-Oliver Kempf’s clumsy second yellow.

Three more replacements combined for a superb winning goal; Bryan Cristante clipped a pass to the right wing, Devyne Rensch took it first-time on the volley to square a cross, and Artem Dovybk was on hand to knock it in.

Even then, Como would not give up, hitting the post through Mergim Vojvoda late on, and the relentless, fearless attacking of the depleted Lariani made it clear both why Ranieri described facing Fabregas’ team as like “going to the dentist without anaesthetic” and why the likes of Milan and Roma have been linked with the Spanish tactician this week.

Ranieri will hope that March proves to be less pazzerello than Sunday night suggested. Roma are now 11 matches undefeated in Serie A – their last loss away in Como – and will look to replicate that form in Europe this week.

Athletic Club visit on Thursday in the first leg of a huge Europa League last-16 tie, while league games against Empoli, Cagliari and Lecce offer a big chance for the Giallorossi to keep chipping away at that gap separating them from the European spots.