Bavagnoli frustrated after Sassuolo draw

Roma Women kicked off the 2020-21 Serie A season by taking a point from the away game against the Neroverdi - despite Paloma Lazaro opening the scoring on her debut for the club.

The result was the first time the Giallorosse have taken a point from their opening fixture of the season, although Bavagnoli was not dwelling on that achievement after the final whistle.

What was lacking this evening?

“It wasn’t an easy game – Sassuolo are a tough side to face. They are organised and determined.

"After a good first half performance I was confident, we had the measure of their long balls over the top. But in the second half they deserved to equalise. If we want to improve we have to do a lot better – we can’t just be content with what we did in the first half and then let things slip in the second. We will take a closer look at the game over the next few days.”

Was the problem one of focus?

“In the second half we got a lot wrong. I think that perhaps there was a bit of timidness when we went back out there – we seemed to lack the same courage we had in the first half.

"The mental side is the most important right now. We have often prepared well for games well, then begun games well… then ended up failing to win them. That’s something we’ve really got to work on.”

Are there positives to take from this first game?

“There are some positives to take – and we have to credit Sassuolo, to. There are some positives; we have the whole squad available to us again, and we have some fresh blood too, so from that point of view I’m optimistic for the future.”