Fonseca: Hopefully this is the first win of many

The Giallorossi beat Sassuolo 4-2 thanks to a stunning first half display, which saw the side go into the break 4-0 up - thanks to goals from Bryan Cristante, Edin Dzeko, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Justin Kluivert.

"I hope that this will be the first of a lot of victories," Fonseca said afterwards.

"Today we showed our ability to press high, and while we scored four goals it could have been seven or eight. And that’s against a very good side, who use the ball well.

“Defensively it was our best performance so far. Sassuolo really didn’t create many chances. Yes, they scored twice, but the team defended well generally.”

What did you make of Edin Dzeko’s performance tonight?

“Dzeko is an excellent player – he’s very important to us. He’s motivated, scored a very nice goal and could have had more – he’s a top player.”

Lorenzo Pellegrini laid on three assists today, playing in that advanced midfield role.

“We made some changes to the team – Pellegrini played higher up the pitch. With [Jordan] Veretout and [Henrikh] Mkhitaryan in the team, we’re better at keeping the ball. I must say that everyone performed very well tonight.”

What are you asking your players to do – to keep a high defensive line in order to press?

“Our pressing begins from the front, so it’s very important for us to have a high line. We did that well today, with Justin [Kluivert], Mkhitaryan and Dzeko, at an important point of the game. The team needs to be able to press high and I think they did it very well today.”

Does that mean taking risks in defence?

“If we press very high, we’re not running any risks in defence. [Aleksandar] Kolarov and [Alessandro] Florenzi waited for the right time to move up the wings. They understood when it was the right moment to push up.”

How are you finding life in Rome with your wife?

“It’s great. My wife really likes being here in Rome – she likes the city and the people.”