Roma Primavera slipped to a 1-0 loss at the hands of Pescara at Trigoria on Saturday.
The visitors took the lead in the 74th minute, with Gaetano Logoluso getting the decisive goal. The Giallorossi – missing several players – were unable to find an equaliser, despite pushing Pescara hard in the closing stages. It was the Giallorossi’s first league defeat of the season.
Roma could have been behind before half-time, but Ionut Pop saved a penalty to deny Pescara an early lead.
“We need to do much more,” declared Alberto De Rossi after the match. “We weren’t ourselves out there on the pitch today, we didn’t string moves together like we usually do and we didn’t create chances. That said we have to acknowledge Pescara’s strengths. They have very pacey players and from an athletic standpoint I think they were better than us today.”
De Rossi accepted that his side had given their all, but lamented a number of shortcomings in their performance: “The lads gave everything they had, especially in the latter stages. If we had done that earlier in the game maybe we could have got the draw. We have to do more, play better, work together as a team, provide more support to our forward players and close the space down better. There’s always an explanation behind a defeat and there are many reasons we lost today.”
The Primavera boss also expressed his regret at having missed an opportunity to extend their lead at the top: “It’s a very frustrating defeat, especially because with other results going our way, we could have pulled away at the top of the table. We’re still in top spot though. I think a return of six wins, two draws and one loss from nine matches is not bad.”
Roma remain on 20 points then, with Frosinone moving up to 19 and pushing Empoli down into third with 18 points.
The Primavera will now look ahead to their vital UEFA Youth League clash away at Barcelona on Tuesday (12:00 CET kick-off).
Switching his attentions to the Barça match, De Rossi spoke of his confidence going into the game: “We will be able to find more space up front against a team that plays a more open style, as Barcelona do. We haven’t trained together for a while due to the international break, so we need to gather ourselves again and tweak a few things. I’m sure we will bounce back from this defeat.”
Source: asroma.it