Gasperini reflects on hard-fought win over Cagliari: 'All the more valuable'

Gian Piero Gasperini said the difficulties Cagliari posed made the three points from Roma's 4-2 win "all the more valuable", stressing that his side are maintaining their strong start in Serie A.

Roma kept pace with leaders Lazio by sealing victory over Cagliari with two late goals, with substitute Rodrigo Mora stamping his mark on the closing stages of the contest.

After Cagliari went ahead through M'Bala Nzola's 10th-minute penalty, Roma responded with quickfire goals from Emanuele Lulli and Niccolò Pisilli to lead at the break.

Cagliari thought they had equalised with nine minutes remaining when Daniel Maldini beat Pierluigi Gollini, but Roma had the final say.

Mora restored the hosts' lead in the 85th minute by converting Daniele Ghilardi's cross, before the team's top scorer Donyell Malen sealed the win, following up after his first attempt was saved by Juan Rodríguez.

The result extended Roma's unbeaten home run in Serie A to 17 matches (13 wins, 4 draws). The capital club have now put together their longest unbeaten streak at home since a 24-match run between December 2015 and February 2017 under Rudi Garcia and Luciano Spalletti.

Roma have scored 23 goals in the first nine rounds of this Serie A season; the last time they passed the 20-goal mark at this stage was in 2016-17, again under Spalletti, when they had also scored 23.

Speaking after the match, Gasperini said: "Without doubt we had some difficulties today. They were sharper than us in attack and caused us problems. In midfield we are forced to use almost the same players in every game, and fatigue is starting to show. The fact that everyone contributed makes this win all the more valuable for us."

Gasperini was also pleased with the second goal, created by two Roma academy products. Pisilli finished Lulli's superb cross into the box with a stylish volley. With three goals in eight Serie A appearances this season, Pisilli is already just one short of the tally he managed across 55 matches over his previous four seasons. Lulli, born in 2007, has become one of only two defenders in Europe's top five leagues to have been directly involved in at least three goals this season (two goals, one assist).

Praising his young players, Gasperini said: "They are wonderful lads. In the Roma academy there are always players who love the club so wholeheartedly and live with the dream of making their debut here. They are still very young and certainly very talented. Lulli scored a header; he was working on that specifically yesterday, because it wasn't considered one of his strengths."

Forced to rotate his squad because of injuries and Champions League commitments, the experienced coach is currently without the likes of Paulo Dybala, Mile Svilar, Manu Koné and Lorenzo Pellegrini.

Addressing the absences, the veteran tactician concluded: "It isn't easy to take the field without players like Dybala and Koné, so we can make mistakes. But winning against such a tough opponent has been a big morale boost for us."