Gasperini: ‘Convincing Roma performance boosts confidence’

Gian Piero Gasperini saw a ‘convincing performance’ from Roma to beat Rangers in Glasgow, with confidence and fitness levels growing across the board.

The Giallorossi needed to get back on track after two consecutive Europa League defeats to Lille and Viktoria Plzen, plus painful Serie A losses to Inter and Milan.

They looked comfortable from start to finish at Ibrox, surging into an early 2-0 lead with Matias Soulé’s header on a corner and Lorenzo Pellegrini drilling in the Artem Dovbyk assist.

“I’d say it was a convincing performance, it is never easy to win in this atmosphere, as teams like Rangers are very physical and fired up,” Gasperini told Sky Sport Italia.

“We did well in the first half, there were a few issues at the start of the second, but that can happen in these games.”

Roma have shown difficulty scoring goals so far this season and Gasperini had complained of Dovbyk’s movement, but he provided the assist today for Pellegrini.

“Communication is fundamental for the attack, it is not an individual approach, and the goal saw all three working together. If you gain confidence scoring this kind of goal, you will certainly get more,” replied the coach.

“Undoubtedly his fitness levels have improved, he was involved in the second goal and held the ball up well. He came close with his finishes a few times, when a striker gets into those positions, he will score sooner or later.

“He is without doubt in much better shape than at the start of the season. We are lacking three players simultaneously in attack, so inevitably that affects the squad rotation and fatigue, but we hope to go into the break for international duty on the right foot and then get some back.”

The options were limited for the coach this evening, as Paulo Dybala, Evan Ferguson, Leon Bailey and Angelino were out injured, while Tommaso Baldanzi is ineligible for the Europa League.

What does Gasperini feel they still need to improve?

“Our performances have certainly got better, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to results. After all, we picked up results at the start of the season with much less convincing performances.

“I believe it is the level of performance that gives you self-belief, so even the defeats to Inter and Milan did us good, perhaps better than some of those early wins. We play better now and that allows us to create more scoring opportunities too.”

Roma now sit in 18th place on six points from four Europa League games, with a goal difference of +1.

Curiously, they won both their away fixtures in the tournament and lost both at the Stadio Olimpico.