El Shaarawy: We deserved more than a draw

El Shaarawy scored early in the first half - but Gianluca Lapadula's penalty ensured the points were shared.

A wonderful goal but unfortunately it wasn’t enough…

“Yes, it seemed like the goal would prove crucial, but it wasn’t enough. Then we had the penalty incident, which completely changed a game that we had control of. Even with ten men we attacked them and tried to win the game. We deserved a bit more.”

Genoa’s approach helped keep the game deadlocked.

“They were all back defending and looked to hit us on the counter. There wasn’t much space in which to work the ball, but we still tried to create. It wasn’t the outcome we wanted but we have to bounce back. We’re not won in our last two matches but we have a game on Friday to get back to winning ways.”

Did your frustration lead to a slight breakdown of your tactical approach?

“We know Genoa is a hard place to come and play. The team really feeds off the encouragement of the crowd. There’s a real competitive edge out there and you can lose that clarity of thought. There was very little space for us to work the ball towards goal. We weren’t lacking in terms of our mentality, even with just ten men. We tried to win and had a chance right at the end through Patrik [Schick]. This is the approach we always need to have: never give up and always try to win, even with ten men.”

Why does it come more naturally to you to cut in from the left than from the right?

“In the first half I tried cutting in, and a few different moves, but [Diego] Laxalt always kept a few metres ahead. On the goal they were slow to close down, and I came central to meet the cross from [Alessandro Florenzi]. From the left it comes more naturally to me, and more easily.”

At the end we saw [Federico] Fazio get very angry with the referee. What happened?

“I don’t know exactly what he was complaining about but there were a lot of fouls as well as a great deal of tension, but that could also be a result of my team-mates’ frustration. It’s a shame about the incident with Daniele [De Rossi], which changed the game. We need to bounce back.”