Perotti: Scoring four against Lazio is not easy

"It was a fantastic match, scoring four in a derby is never easy," the former Genoa player began after the game. "We put in an all-round good performance across the 90 minutes. Perhaps we dropped off a bit towards the beginning of the second half, but we got back into our stride and scored again."

As soon as the Argentine forward joined Roma in the January transfer window, he immediately set himself the goal of increasing his average goal tally for the season. His goal against Lazio lifts him onto three goals in 11 games for the Giallorossi.

"I had to improve my ability in front of goal and score more goals, both at Genoa and Sevilla. I'm finding the back of the net more often now and I'm delighted about that."

Do you appreciate the tactical importance that Luciano Spalletti has given you in attack?

"When you're new to a team and go straight into the starting line-up, receiving the welcome that I've had, it's so much easier. I have to thank everyone for taking me in like that, it was so important for me."

Roma were the better side, but went missing for a period at 2-0. What happened?

"It's happened before in other games when we've began the second half a bit off the pace only to pick up the rhythm later. We were lucky when they hit the post and Wojciech Szczesny pulled off a great save. We should have killed the game off earlier, like we've done before."

Did you feel the derby pressure in the first half?

"Mistakes can happen in football and obviously it's not something I like to happen. Nevertheless, we were playing against a top side with superb players who made things difficult for us. When you do slip up, the main thing is to work hard to get the ball back as soon as possible."

Are you in the race for second place now?

"That doesn't depend only on us but on Napoli as well. Let's focus on the Bologna game coming up next Monday. We've also increased the gap on Fiorentina behind us today."