Edin Dzeko was pleased to see the team bounce back after some midweek disappointment to pick up a valuable three points against Bologna on Sunday.
Dzeko scored the third and final goal of the game – his 34th of the season – as the Giallorossi secured a 3-0 win, with Federico Fazio and Mohamed Salah both scoring in the first half.
“It wasn’t easy,” Dzeko said. “I don’t think we started well, maybe because it was hotter than usual. That said, we scored two important goals in the first half.
“They gave it a go after the break and had a couple of good chances where we got lucky, but what counts is that we’ve won a tough match.”
Was this the perfect reaction after the derby?
“It’s never nice when you go out of the cup. We were all disappointed with how it turned out but we knew we had another eight matches to play, starting today. We’re focused on the run-in.”
Why is it that Roma failed to produce in the cup competitions this season?
“It’s hard to say. We played Lyon and Lazio really close together. It was three big games in six days, which didn’t help.”
Now you have just one competition to focus on. Is it a case of defending second place or pushing for the title?
“I think we need to take it game by game. We only have the league left now. We’re up there and we have to believe, but it’s important to defend second spot too.”