Di Francesco: Three massive points earned

Read what coach Eusebio Di Francesco had to say in the wake of Saturday's 1-0 win over Cagliari at the Stadio Olimpico.

The Giallorossi won the game at the death thanks to Federico Fazio's 94th minute strike.

Do you want to comment on the goal or would you prefer to talk about the game?

“I think it's right to talk about the game because people always go on about the game-defining moments but we could have scored earlier and our opponents didn't have their first shot on goal until the 85th minute. We tried to take the game to Cagliari – a very well-organised side – and really went for the win from start to finish. We'll take these three massive points.”

Roma are struggling a little to score goals at the moment. Why is that?

“When I see my team stringing moves together I'm happy and when I see them playing with the right mentality I'm happy. Defensively we're giving very little away. We knew Cagliari would knock balls up to [Leonardo] Pavoletti and play off the second balls and we knew they wouldn't allow us to chase them down as we'd have wanted.

"We had huge territorial supremacy and we had chances to score earlier but we weren't determined or clinical enough – call it what you will. We've worked on that but clearly not enough. I don't have a magic wand. I see there's only one team creating chances and we scored in the 94th minute then people say we struggle to score but I don't agree with that at all. We may not always have been tidy but we took the game to them, as we always do.”

How's Edin Dzeko and Patrik Schick's partnership coming along?

“I don't like talking about it like that because we play with three forwards, not two. I started with Schick today to help him improve. He's not at peak fitness yet but he needs to learn which movements to make in our team and to do that he has to be playing. Yes, he and Schick got in each other's way but it's purely coincidental. Let's not make a situation out of this or a film about Dzeko and Schick. They just need to play games and improve certain movements, that's all.”

Roma played with less intensity today. Is it a natural lull after months of playing spectacular football?

“We had 40 shots against Chievo and today we 'only' had 20. If we'd been a bit more accurate we could have had the game won before the 94th minute. It's true that we upped the pace after the break. I wasn't at all happy with the way we pressed the opposition in the first half but when you're up against a team that hoof the ball long instead of trying to pass it, that makes it harder to win the ball back high up the pitch – which is something we often do.

"We need to do better in certain situations and improve the quality of certain movements – on the wings, for example. But we needed to do some physical work this week to get the lads ready for all the upcoming games. One of the effects of that is we perhaps weren't quite as sharp but we got the goal we needed in the end.”

Radja Nainggolan played and it was a little risky as another booking would have seen him suspended. Do you think that affected him at all?

“First of all, I didn't want everyone to be thinking about Juve when we had a crucial game today which proved to be difficult. As the coach, I was well aware of how hard tonight's game was going to so I needed to send out a message to the team to make them realise how important this match was. I was very keen for Radja to play. Besides, [Kevin] Strootman wasn't fully fit this week.”

Is it time for Dzeko to take over penalty duties?

“You seem to be forgetting that when he did take them he didn't score that many. Plus, a striker asks when he wants to take them and Edin doesn't. We have other penalty-takers too, like [Daniele] De Rossi. Last year Diego [Perotti] was lethal from the spot; this year he's missed two but it can happen. If you take them, there's always a chance you'll miss.

"At the end of the day you have to make choices and I believe Perotti is one of the best penalty-takers in Italy.”