Roma were involved in another rollercoaster game against Spezia on Saturday – and it was one that has kept Paulo Fonseca in his job.
After losing to the same side in the Coppa Italia in midweek, there was a lot riding on the first Serie A meeting between the two clubs. Fonseca could have been sacked if Roma had failed to win.
They were in control of the game overall, but looked to have dropped points when conceding a last-minute equaliser. Fortunately, Lorenzo Pellegrini scored a stoppage-time winner to claim a 4-3 result that saves Fonseca.
The head coach was obviously delighted with the reaction from his players. Here’s what he thought about the game.
On team spirit
“The group is united. It was an incredible moment, because the team had worked really hard and deserved to win it at the end. It showed the team spirit, and I really liked that.”
On a turning point
“Very positive. If we had not won today, it would have been incredibly unfair based on how the game went. It was a performance that showed the team’s spirit.”
On players pushing themselves
“A lot of the boys played 120 minutes in the cup on Tuesday, and they still showed a real desire to win. And it was really important to win today. I think that we fully deserved the three points.”
On movement in attack
“The most important thing was the work put in by the most forward players, who always tried to run into spaces. We prepared the game knowing that it would be really important to break those lines and Pellegrini, Borja [Mayoral] and [Carles] Perez did a great job.”
On individual mistakes
“Everyone in football knows that there are moments like that, when it isn’t a result of a tactical problem. We are going through a moment where teams take advantage of our mistakes. I only know one way to change that: we have to work harder to ensure we avoid those moments.”
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I know I’m a hopeless optimist most of the time but I have to agree with him. This team isn’t playing badly in attack especially (with exception of Mayoral in the Cup game). To further my point, the team hasn’t given up its fight like they usually do in the winter slump. They may have lost focus but not fight or belief in the manager.