Roma coach Daniele De Rossi painted his first appearance in the famous Derby della Capitale with flying colors. Gianluca Mancini’s first-half goal inspired Giallorossi to a narrow 1-0 victory in Saturday’s mouth-watering clash in the capital.
De Rossi’s success in this iconic fixture gains more weight if you consider Roma had failed to score in four previous meetings with Lazio across all competitions. It wasn’t the most emphatic performance from Giallorossi, but the former midfield won’t care much about the aesthetics.
During his illustrious playing career, De Rossi featured in 31 editions of this match-up, racking up 14 wins. But Roma used to stutter against Lazio during Jose Mourinho’s tenure, and it was up to the former midfielder to reclaim bragging rights.
Mancini’s first-half heroics helped him do just that as he shared his view of the derby game depending on the role, insisting he felt more pressure as a coach than it was the case during his playing days.
“It’s a bit different as a coach, you know that defeat tends to weigh on the coach more. We felt this incredible pressure, going back to the days when we were fighting for more prestigious objectives,” the Roma boss told DAZN, as quoted by Gianluca Di Marzio.
“The pressure is worse as a coach because at least as a player I could run around and let some steam off, do something. On the touchline, after a while, I asked the fourth official if the clock had stopped because it felt like time would never pass.“
But Roma can’t afford complacency as they play Milan in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final tie on Thursday.
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