Di Francesco: Midfield is starting to gel

The victory at the Luzhniki Stadium means the Giallorossi are just one positive result away from qualifying for the knockout stages of the competition.

Kostas Manolas and Lorenzo Pellegrini scored the goals for the visitors.

“We could have managed the game a lot better and we should have pushed harder to score a third goal," Di Francesco said afterwards.

"I don't like it when my team settles for what we have. When you try to hold onto a lead you can end up conceding if you give the ball away cheaply. We had the potential and the ability to cause problems for them, as we showed at times. We're good at getting the ball forward quickly and we should have done it more often.

"That's one thing I expect of my team: we mustn't settle for what we have; we have to try and kill the game off. We messed around a bit too much and that's something we mustn't do.”

Your midfield is different to last season. Can you see a new chemistry developing between your players?

“We're improving. [Bryan] Cristante struggled a little initially but he's a very dynamic player and he's settled into the team well. We still have a lot of work to do from a tactical point of view because we often get caught out behind our two holding midfielders. Today we were up against a team who are at their best playing between the lines and that's where we encountered the most difficulty. We needed to do a better job of eliminating those lines. I see improvement but we can't mess around too much – we have to score goals and put games to bed. That's the mindset we need.”

Edin Dzeko seemed more relaxed today than he has been in recent games. Has he improved in that sense?

“Edin can always do better. He's a threat and there were situations where we could have given him better service. We often make the wrong choices and we must improve on that front. Our young players will improve their final ball.”

Will you be able to focus more on the league now that you have one foot in the next round?

“We have another game on Sunday and we need to recover before then. I have to look at what team to pick but I'll make a few changes and bring in some fresh legs. We're going to be playing a dangerous side who get the ball forward quickly and are excellent in possession.”