Gasperini's ears ringing after noisy Lazio-Roma derby
Gian Piero Gasperini became the second-oldest coach to win a Rome derby, as his Roma team downed rivals Lazio 1-0 on Sunday.
Roma coach Gian Piero Gasperini was left in awe of the noise created by the fans during a feisty Derby della Capitale.
Gasperini became the second-oldest coach to win a Rome derby in all competitions as his team ran out 1-0 victors over Lazio on Sunday.
Lorenzo Pellegrini was Roma's hero, with his 38th-minute effort proving decisive, while Lazio had Reda Belahyane and Matteo Guendouzi sent off late on as tempers boiled over at the Stadio Olimpico.
In the three-point-for-a-win era of Serie A, there have been 41 red cards in Lazio-Roma matches, more than in any other match.
And former Atalanta coach Gasperini was impressed by the atmosphere, albeit he was less enthused with how his side performed after Lazio had Belahyane sent off in the 86th minute.
He told DAZN: "I am very happy with the derby, even if it was so loud towards the end that they couldn't hear me!
"It was such a favourable situation for us, and we risked giving away a goal; we cannot waste what we did in those minutes against a team down to 10 men.
"I know the fans feel particularly deeply about this fixture, so we’re glad to give them this joy. Now I need to think about how to improve those final 10 minutes!"
Roma sit fourth in Serie A with three wins from their opening four games, as they bounced back from last week's defeat to Torino.
"The team is in good shape. We had some difficulties last weekend against Torino, where we couldn't play with the right tempo, perhaps because we took some things for granted," Gasperini added.
"This is a process; there will be ups and downs, so I am looking for improvements both on an individual and a team level. We've got to get everyone up to speed so that we can become a stronger group and have more options."
The match stats suggested a fairly even encounter, with Lazio having 10 shots and accumulating 1.0 expected goals, while Roma's 1.5 xG came from 13 attempts.
And Lazio boss Maurizio Sarri felt his team were unfortunate to be on the losing side.
"We lost the game because of a bad error," Sarri told DAZN, as quoted by Football Italia.
"We played a good game, but we lost it this way. We are sorry for our fans. They supported us. I'm sorry for the team, too; they didn't deserve to lose."
