AS Roma manager, Paolo Fonseca was happy with his team’s performance after a hard-earned win over Milan in Serie A derby.
After playing against Borussia Monchengladbach in the Europa League on Thursday, Roma had to endure a tough schedule playing a big derby just three days later.
The fatigue wasn’t seen on the hosts, as Stadio Olimpico carried their team to an important win.
Paolo Fonseca spoke about the derby after the match, and told Sky Sport Italia:
“The players put in a good performance and fought hard, but it’s not easy at the moment to play three games in a week, so they really deserved this,” Fonseca said, as quoted by Football Italia.
“Zaniolo had a great game, scored an important goal for us and we have three very, very important points for the team.”
Asked about the decision to keep Florenzi on the bench even after Spinazzola’s injury, Fonseca replied:
“When Spinazzola felt the muscular problem, I thought we needed to defend well, especially against a quick player like Rafael Leao on the left.
“Cetin has more pace and is more of a defender, he’s also more physical, so the thought was to defend at that moment.”
Commenting on Pastore’s solid performance, the Greek manager added:
“We cannot forget there are three games in a week for Pastore, but he showed his quality and professionalism this evening.”
One of the best players in the evening, Roma’s Nicolo Zaniolom, spoke after the match. According to Calciomercato, he said:
“We played a great offensive game, it was a great night indeed. We always want to improve, we want to let the pitch talk for us.
“The fans were great like usual. UCL? That’s our goal…”