Eusebio Di Francesco praised his Roma side after they edged out Torino 1-0 on Sunday afternoon and bounced back from last week’s loss to Napoli.
A stunning freekick from Aleksandar Kolarov proved to be the match winner, which kept Roma in fifth position in the Serie A table, though they have a game in hand.
“Today was a hard fought win,” Di Francesco started. “We can always do better though and today we weren’t sharp enough in the final third of the pitch with our passing, but I don’t think the playing surface helped either.”
The win caps off a positive week for the Giallorossi after a 3-3 draw at Chelsea midweek, where they came back from two goals down to eventually lead at Stamford Bridge.
“It’s an important win after a long week for us at home and abroad,” the Roma coach went on, “but despite that and not being at our best physically, we still showed the right attitude today and got the win which is what we came here to do.”
Di Francesco heaped praise upon his rear-guard after Toro rarely threatened over the course of the match.
“They played with four forwards and today our defence accepted the one-on-one duels,” he said. “Toro are a side that normally try and dominate the possession and we did really well to keep the ball away from their danger-men.”
Opposite number Sinisa Mihajlovic had a different view on the match: “It was a balanced and even game which was decided by a free kick. We afforded Roma – who are a goal machine – few chances. We matched them today and we did not deserve to lose.”
Without Belotti, Toro lacked the cutting edge at times but Mihajlovic defended his deputy Umar Sadiq: “He put in a shift. He is young and needs time to grow. He missed a good chance but these errors can happen. He did his job and worked hard. We made the choice to opt for a young player to act as Belotti’s understudy and he needs time.”
Sadiq and the rest of the Toro team will be looking to get back on track midweek at Fiorentina. Roma meanwhile host Crotone.
