Di Francesco pleased at improved focus from the side

Edin Dzeko scored twice as Cengiz Under grabbed the other, on a night where the Giallorossi made it seven straight home wins in the Champions League - all of them secured under Di Francesco.

How do you go from getting jeered against SPAL to getting cheered here tonight?

“That’s my team – before the game against SPAL they’d put in a number of good performances. On Saturday, after a good first half, the team crumbled at the first sign of trouble and we completely lost our way. We showed a lot of good things tonight, including the ability to dig in. They’re good between the lines but we found our rhythm, producing some good play and creating chances.”

Edin Dzeko now has 80 goals in 150 appearances for Roma.

“If he’d scored on Saturday that would have been even better. I must say, he’s an extraordinary player, and not just in terms of his finishing – he gets the team playing, brings the ball down and produces good service for his team-mates.”

Were there difficulties winning the ball back tonight?

“There’s always something you can improve on. The fact we’ve had some poor results in the league indicates that we lack consistency. Picking up wins builds confidence. We won the ball back thirteen times in the opposing half and that reflects the kinds of aggression that I want to see. In the second period we kept them constantly penned in their own half. Clearly you can’t always dominate for 90 minutes, but when you do so for long periods and make your dominance pay, then that’s really something. I know however that we can improve.”

Was Dzeko eager to do better tonight than he did against SPAL?

“He’s a fantastic professional – his pre-match preparations are always spot-on. When he has a bad game he might appear lethargic, but he does well when he’s determined. We often see this in evening games, which means he prefers playing at night. I hope that this is something he can really build on.

"There were things I wasn’t happy with on Saturday – some occasions where focus was lacking. That’s football – you can never let your guard down. As I’ve said, I’m not happy with the way we prepared the game with SPAL, but there are things I was able to sort out. You prepare for games during the week, not two hours before – that’s what I think about it, and it should never happen again.”

You scored some nice goals this evening.

“Yes and produced lots of nice bits of play too. We were very creative. What we need to improve is giving our opponents fewer chances.”

How is Lorenzo Pellegrini?

“I brought him off as a precaution. He was tired and I want him to recover ahead of the next match.”