Spalletti revels in Roma victory
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Article summary
AS Roma coach Luciano Spalletti was delighted after his team picked up a "fully deserved" three points at home against Sporting Clube de Portugal.
Article body
AS Roma coach Luciano Spalletti was a satisfied man after his team picked up three points at home against Sporting Clube de Portugal with substitute Mirko Vučinić scoring the winner after Juan's opening goal had been cancelled out by Liedson for Sporting. Losing coach Paulo Bento now feels his side have to win when the teams meet again in UEFA Champions League Group F two weeks' time or they will be facing elimination.
Luciano Spalletti, Roma coach
We were not very relaxed at the beginning, which is normal because we were coming from a series of games in which we conceded a lot of goals. However, we were very determined and approached the game the right way, even though we knew it was a very difficult test. I was sure sooner or later we would be able to gain control and we did. The victory was fully deserved because we did not risk much while we had several chances to score. We didn't start quickly but raised our tempo in the second half. The game in Lisbon will now be decisive for qualification. I haven't given Vučinić much chance but today he had more time to prove his worth. He is a very good forward who can cover all roles in attack. He can give us that something extra that can decide a game.
Paulo Bento, Sporting coach
It was a very even game for 70 minutes, but after they improved in the second half we struggled to react and gave them too much space to counterattack. We never really lost the control of the game, however. It was an important match for us and unfortunately we lost it – it now means the next game will be even more decisive. We have to beat Roma next time if we want to have some chance of progressing to the knockout stage. Roma have experience and plenty of technical and tactical quality. I don't think [Francesco] Totti's injury gave us an advantage, because his replacement [Vučinić] played very well and did well to beat our defenders. In two weeks we will see how good we are. We have to learn from tonight's experience and try to put them under pressure when we face them at home.
