Perotti pleased to make decisive contribution

Perotti scored the game's only goal from 12 yards out at the Stadio Olimpico, propelling the Giallorossi to a 1-0 win.

The strike put to bed any lingering memories of his penalty miss earlier in the season against Udinese - the first of his career - and saw him celebrate by acknowledging the fact he and his wife are expecting their second child.

INTERVIEWER: Your penalty turned out to be crucial...

PEROTTI: “Yes. After the one I missed, I couldn’t miss another. We were all square at 0-0, whereas the one against Udinese came when we were winning, so it wasn’t as important as the one today. It was an important win. In years gone by we’d draw these kinds of games, but we’ve picked up three crucial points.”

Not a sparkling performance – one would have expected an easier game once you went ahead.

“We’re playing in the Champions League too – we had a tough game against Chelsea one week ago, then another difficult one against Torino. We’ve got a solid defence and goalkeeper, plus we’re finding the back of the net. You can’t always put in a great performance – they’re showing exactly why they stayed up last year. Getting the win was the most important thing today.”

Is it tough to try and win games every three days?

“Playing to win is the most wonderful thing in football, and in all sport – but it’s not easy. The other teams know us – we’re a bit tired, but we always need to stay tight, compact and fight for one another. We’ve been doing well up until now.”

Your run up to the penalty was different to what you usually do.

“Last year I took one like that. I need to change things up a bit every now and again – you can’t always take them in the same way. Today it helped us win and for me to break my duck – that was important for me.”