Pellegrini: 'Roma Is Not A Group, But A Family. I still Have A Bit Of Catch Up To Do'

Written by Dare Solomon

AS Roma captain, Lorenzo Pellegrini saved the day in Sardegna Arena after scoring the winner from a brilliant freekick, ensuring a 2-1 victory over Cagliari.

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With Jose Mourinho watching on from the stands, the Giallorossi successfully saw out the final moments of the game to complete the ideal preparations for Sunday’s meeting with AC Milan.

After going behind to Leonardo Pavoletti’s first goal of the campaign, Roger Ibanez equalised with a pinpoint header from a corner before Pellegrini stepped up and dispatched a free-kick into the top corner to decide the contest.

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Giallorossi are four points off Juventus, one ahead of Atalanta but nine adrift of AC Milan the table toppers.

Pellegrini who struggled to reveal what the team is capable of expressed how important is the win to the team after their run of winless games.

“It’s a really important win, as three points are in any game. We weren’t in a good spot, despite a decent first half performance.

“We gave an important response to all the things that were said about us this week – we wanted to respond in the right way and we did. Against Napoli we played really well, I though, and today we took the three points like we knew we needed to.” Pellegrini said.

On his goal, the forward believes he still has some work to do.

“I’ve still got a bit of catching up to do, maybe. Everyone tells me that I can’t take free-kicks. I will continue to work on them, improve at them, just as we all do in this group. Sooner or later we will achieve what we are trying to do.”

Meanwhile…

Cagliari coach, Walter Mazzarri let out his dissatisfaction with the officiating blaming his team’s defeat on the referee’s wrong calls.

“We had two great chances to double the lead, but finally, I saw a team that I like. We were perfect tactically and if there was a team that deserved to win it was us,” he told DAZN as quoted by Footballitalia.

“We conceded goals from two set-pieces and there wasn’t the foul that led to their free-kick because they had fouled one of our players before.

“Zaniolo held Lykogiannis by his arm to win the ball and then Lyko touched the ball with the challenge at the edge of the box, it was a regular tackle, not a foul,” Mazzarri explained.

The former Napoli coach also claimed his team deserved a penalty after the referee failed to use the VAR.

“Then, there was a penalty kick for us. I’ve watched it from any angle. Mancini pushed Pavoletti and then pretended to fall. There should have been a VAR check.

“Everybody can make mistakes, the referees as well. But there is VAR in every game. In Florence [in Fiorentina vs. Cagliari on Sunday], they stopped the match because they spotted a handball that nobody had noticed.

“I am disappointed because, after such an excellent performance, we want to get the same treatment as the others.”

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