COACH D’AVERSA AFTER PARMA 0-2 ROMA: “IT WAS A BALANCED MATCH UP UNTIL THE PENALTY”

Parma, 16 January 2020 – Following Thursday’s defeat in the Coppa Italia, Coach D’Aversa had this to say in the Tardini press room:

“What happened with Kolarov? Nothing, we were speaking about an incident linked to two players. You need to value the journey of each individual player, Cornelius and Inglese were both coming back from injuries, so when assessing their performances, you need to keep in mind also what the medical staff are saying. I think that the match was fairly balanced up until the second goal went in. Roma had more possession but we didn’t concede many chances to them, especially considering that Inglese had a great opportunity to equalise when it was 1-0.

“Andreas did really well during the first half, however, it’s obvious that Roberto is further along in his recovery because he’s been working for longer. Inglese had a pain in his ankle and is struggling with his movement, but this is only normal considering the timings. I hope that both players will be back to their best soon enough.

“Obviously, you don’t lose because of the referee, however, sometimes there are situations that could influence the result if they are taken differently. I didn’t like the circumstances of the second goal because Pezzella did well to deal with a dangerous situation from the cross. We then conceded the penalty and then the match was finished as we didn’t create anything. Obviously, I am not going to blame Inglese for his miss, as I think that the goalkeeper also made a great save. Kucka also just missed the crossbar when it was a 0-0. Meanwhile, at the other end, they had a great player like Pellegrini who made the difference. We could’ve done better than losing 2-0, and we can’t be pleased with the performance or the result, however, I must say that I’m fairly pleased with who took to the pitch tonight.”