Ranieri praises Pellegrini for showing great attitude

After Pellegrini and Salemax scored goals, the "Red Wolves" Roma finally defeated the "Blue Eagles" Lazio 2-0 in the derby match in the 19th round of the 2024/25 Serie A. When coach Ranieri was interviewed, he especially praised Pellegrini's positive attitude and hoped that the team would maintain its excellent performance.

In the 10th minute of the game, Salemax sent a cross from the right, Pellegrini took the ball and adjusted a few steps before shooting, helping Roma take the lead 1-0. In the 18th minute, Salemax's pass was blocked by the Lazio goalkeeper, and then Salemax made a supplementary shot and scored, helping Roma expand its lead to 2-0.

In the end, Roma defeated Lazio 2-0 at home. After 3 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss in the last 5 rounds, Roma is currently ranked 10th in the standings with 23 points, 12 points behind Lazio, which is in 4th place.

Talking about Pellegrini who scored in this game, Roma coach Ranieri said, "Pellegrini talked to me before, and I realized that he was very eager to play as the captain of Roma in this derby. I can't wait to let him release this passion, because as coaches we are always trying to motivate players and ask them to do more. I let him play in the game against AC Milan and told him that his performance was not good enough, but in this game I am sure he will perform well, so I told him he will start."

"It's his nature to score goals, he's one of the best midfielders in Italy. He didn't ask me to play him, I just felt that his form was what I needed."

In addition, Roma will travel to Bologna in the next round of the league. As for the team's performance, Ranieri said, "I agree that we are now a real team, everyone knows what to do and how to help each other. It is very important that we can maintain stability, and we must continue to maintain this state."

“After a terrible first half of the season, we need to start seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. We have to give a good performance against Bologna. If we don’t continue like this, it will be really bad. The result of the game can depend on many different factors, but the key is to give our all like we did in this game.”