Szczesny: Our preparation paid off

Radja Nainggolan’s late strike was the difference between the two sides at the Stadio Olimpico, meaning the battle to finish second this season could yet go down to the wire.

Szczesny noted before the game that Monday’s game was a contest where the result mattered far more than the performance, and the Poland international was delighted that a week’s hard work ended up with the Giallorossi on the winning side.

“I said [before the game] that we wanted to show on the pitch that we were prepared, and we did,” Szczesny said. “It was all about the three points today.

“As dramatic as it was it was, we got the result and that’s the most important thing. So we are very happy today.”

Your save from Gonzalo Higuain in the first half was, in terms of technique, one of your best of the season.

“I don’t like to analyse my saves too much. I think in the life of a goalkeeper you get lucky sometimes, sometimes you help a little bit with the quality … and all the aspects were on my side today. I’m very happy to help my team, because as I said the three points we got today were huge and we’ve got the momentum and we want to secure second place. I think we’ve given ourselves the chance to do that.”

You had a bit of a mix-up with Maicon in the second half. How could you analyse in a split-second that you could not touch that ball with your hand?

“At the end of the game we can laugh about this but on another day it could have been a very sad story, with the little misunderstanding we had. Maicon actually gave me a shout, he said ‘No, no, no!’ so I knew I shouldn’t catch it. We got a little bit lucky, we had a little laugh about it but, yeah, we didn’t concede, so I think we’ve done a good job together [today].”

The result means Roma closed the gap on Napoli to two points. Do you still believe second is possible?

“Third place should never be a target and a goal for this club. From the position we were in a few weeks ago, yes, we’ve done well and it’s a great position to be fighting for second place, but we have to aim for more. Obviously Juventus won the Scudetto today and they deserve it – and congratulations to them - but at this club we should be aiming to win trophies. As good as the work we have done in the last few weeks is, we should still expect more.”