Zaniolo: We deserved more

Zaniolo himself scored the equaliser for the Giallorossi just moments into the second half, cancelling out Krysztof Piatek’s first half opener.

Roma created countless chances to score both before and after Zaniolo’s intervention – but an outstanding performance from Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma frustrated them at every turn.

“We deserved more,” Zaniolo said afterwards.

“We had three or four great chances to score but we weren’t able to do it. But there’s nothing you can do about that now, we played well and on Friday we have another game we need to win.”

He added: “The tactics don’t mean much if we don’t give everything we have. The coach urged us to give more out there today, and I think you saw that. We were unlikely not to get another goal but we performed well.”

The 19-year-old – who became the youngest player since Francesco Totti to score his first three Serie A goals for the Giallorossi on the night – was asked what it was like playing amid a difficult atmosphere, with Giallorossi fans still irate at the manner of the club’s midweek Coppa Italia exit.

“All we think about is training hard and giving everything we have out on the pitch in front of the fans – to show that the defeat in Florence was a one-off,” he said.

“We know we need to take things day by day, working hard to qualify for the Champions League.”