Manolas dedicates goal to 'incredible' Astori

Manolas broke the deadlock early in the second half with a powerful close-range header – and celebrated by pointing to the score, in memory of the Fiorentina captain.

“I dedicate the goal to Davide, he was an incredible guy,” Manolas said afterwards. “We were all very sad during the week [after hearing the news].

“But we are also professionals, and we have to look forward.”

Manolas acknowledged that his goal was the key moment in the match, with the Giallorossi having struggled to find a breakthrough in the first 45 minutes.

“It wasn’t an easy game – I’m happy with the goal but even more than that because we did what we came to do – win,” he said.

“Today we had a poor first half, but after the goal we relaxed and we saw some great football.”

Now the side will turn their attention to Tuesday’s Champions League last-16 tie against Shakhtar Donetsk.

Roma are looking to overturn a 2-1 deficit against the Ukrainian champions.

“The aim is to reach the last-eight in Europe, we hope our fans are there because they are huge for us,” Manolas said.

“We will work as hard as we can over the next three days to get ready for the game. We want to get through to the next round.

“We have to be focused, smart, calm and use our intelligence and experience. As Juve showed against Tottenham: without all of those things you can’t even think about getting through.”