Spalletti: A great fightback

Radja Nainggolan grabbed an 84th-minute equaliser for the Giallorossi after Ivan Perisic had handed the visitors a 53rd-minute lead.

“Inter did well to score the opener but we did even better to fight our way back into it,” Spalletti commented after the final whistle. “It was a great match and I think the crowd enjoyed it. We can say it was a fair result, although after we levelled the scores we perhaps deserved a bit more given how we played.

“Having said that, we gave the ball away too easily tonight. Our possession play wasn't as good as it has been at other times. We handed the ball to our opponents at least ten times. We found ourselves scrambling left and right to win it back and if that happens too often it starts sapping away at your energy."

Were Roma too wasteful up front?

“When we push forward and go on the attack anything can happen. [Edin] Dzeko needs to find a way to put all his weight and all his determination into certain situations. It's strange what happens to him sometimes but he really does have everything a top striker needs. We'll keep faith in him because he's a useful player for us to have around.”

Did Roma get their timing wrong when Inter scored?

“Looking back at it, you can see that [Antonio] Rudiger doesn't have a man and if he moves across straight away you can still have a two against two. Situations like that can happen though. We wanted to take the game to them and push our full-backs up. When you're in possession and there's no danger - like just before their goal – you need to push up an extra ten yards or so. The two centre-backs need to be good enough to find the right balance based on where their men are.

“You have to look at it the whole picture though and, as I said, we responded well today. Our central defenders built moves from the back and they played their part in earning us a draw. We took control of the game again and that's a very good sign.”

What did you make of Miranda's handball on Dzeko's header? Should it have been a penalty?

“I didn't see it but I doubt the referee saw it when it happened either. We're following the guidelines set by [chairman of the Italian Football Coaches Association Renzo] Ulivieri and declining to comment on refereeing decisions.”

What were you and Radja Nainggolan saying to each other after the match?

“He booted two balls away on the edge of the box and I was saying he should have brought the ball forward a few yards. He told me he thought the match was over and wanted to get rid of it as quickly as possible.”