Daniele De Rossi maintains Genoa gave Roma a run for their money today and were only undone by ‘a masterpiece from Santiago Castro’ at his beloved Stadio Olimpico.
The Giallorossi legend has fewer appearances for this club only than Francesco Totti, and was also their coach for a brief spell, so returning here can never be a normal fixture.
Nonetheless, he frustrated his old team for long periods until Castro’s audacious chip and the Emanuele Lulli finish secured a 2-0 Roma victory.
De Rossi sees Genoa progress
“We acknowledge that Roma are a strong squad, we accept the result, but if we just went into every game against a stronger squad expecting defeat, it would be a serious problem,” De Rossi told Sky Sport Italia.
“After all, Roma were stronger than us last season too, but we still beat them. I think we played a balanced match for 50 minutes until that masterpiece from Castro. I liked the spirit of the team, that goal knocked the wind out of our sails, and we still stayed in the game to the end.”
Genoa had also hit the frame of the goal in the first half with Stephan El Shaarawy, who was also making his return to the Stadio Olimpico as an opponent, but they petered out as the match wore on.
“The way we worked so hard to close down the spaces and win the individual duels in the first half allowed us to create spaces, but maybe we got a bit stretched out after the break, allowed Roma an extra second on the ball, and that can ultimately make the difference.”
The pressure remains on De Rossi, who scraped one point from the opening five Serie A games until the 2-1 win against Fiorentina.
“I was talking to the directors and I feel this performance gives a sense of consistency to the win over Fiorentina, not in terms of result, but when it comes to determination, attitude, and also performance.
“We will have a different gameplan for each encounter, but I am satisfied with the attitude of the lads this evening.”
Italy Under-19 international talent Samuel Wiafe was given his first Serie A start, but Tommaso Baldanzi did not feature against his parent club this evening.
“We all have great faith in Baldanzi, he wasn’t injured exactly, but he felt a twinge in training yesterday and again today, so we decided to rest him. He was meant to come off the bench, but with this adductor concern, we didn’t want to risk it and hope he’ll be available next week,” explained De Rossi.
“Wiafe was considered a youth team player over the summer, he was meant to go on loan somewhere, but he really impressed us, he’s physically strong, he has talent and knows how to play the ball. We don’t want to pile too many expectations on him, but I really like this kid.”