Luciano Spalletti is proud of the way Roma reacted to the derby defeat and going down to 10 men against Empoli.
The Giallorossi have kept their title hopes alive with today’s 2-1 win at the Olimpico, which came in a tricky psychological situation.
“I have been doing this job for quite a few years now and have never found a single easy game,” assured Spalletti.
“Empoli deserve to be higher up the table. The fact we were able to win this match even when a man down means we had the best possible reaction. Losing the derby does take away something in terms of enthusiasm.”
The 3-2 defeat to Lazio midweek widened the gap at the top to seven points, although it could be as little as four if Inter fail to beat Juventus this evening.
Simone Perrotta was sent off for a professional foul on Felice Piccolo, but Roma still fought back to win 2-1 with Christian Panucci’s header.
“It was a tactical foul, but I don’t think it was worthy of a card,” added the Coach.
“We’ll have two or three players suspended for the next match, Juan has a foot problem and Francesco Totti played with a knock to his knee, but as for the rest we are in good shape.”
Spalletti also reserved praise for the fans at the Stadio Olimpico during today’s encounter after a shaky start with protests for the derby defeat.
“When we went down to 10 men our crowd gave us an exceptional push. If they react that way then they must know that they give us a great hand. If they act like they did at the start of the match, then that creates tension.”
Empoli are in a Press Silence and refusing to talk to the media.
