Mancini pleased to play decisive role

The Giallorossi emerged 1-0 winners from a tight game at the Stadio Olimpico, thanks to the Italy international defender’s first half header from a corner.

After seeing a goal ruled out in similar circumstances the previous weekend against AC Milan, Mancini was relieved that this one stood.

“It was a nice goal,” Mancini said.

“In games like this you need to take advantage of chances like that to grab the lead. I was able to get a free jump in the area. It was like the one against AC Milan, which I thought should have stood. We spread our arms when we jump, we are not penguins.

”It was similar with the goal against Inter, where I made a similar movement.”

He added: “We did not have a great second half, we dropped too deep and we conceded possession to them a bit much. We have played a lot of games in a row though and that can happen – but we could have perhaps done a bit more.”

The defender acknowledged that some elements of the team’s performance had been affected by the heavy fixture schedule the players have had to work through.

“In terms of our mistakes in build-up we know we have to improve, because sometimes we give away a bit too much,” he said.

“We have played so many games, we are a bit threadbare in places, we have had to go out there every two or three days and as a result we aren’t necessarily pressing the opposition the way we should be.”