Sergej Milinkovic-Savic admits his recent form hasn’t been good, so celebrates breaking his goal drought with a magical free kick, but refuses to discuss his Lazio contract talks.
The Serbia international curled into the top corner to secure a 2-0 victory away to Monza this afternoon, with Pedro having opened the scoring by pouncing on a collective defensive error.
“These are three enormous points for us, as we are still in second place for a while longer, we saw that Inter lost yesterday and hope that Milan don’t win against Napoli tonight either,” Milinkovic-Savic told DAZN.
He had not found the net since January 24 against Milan, while it was his seventh Serie A direct free kick goal.
“Finally I managed to score and I really missed that feeling. There has been a lot of criticism and negative words, now this goal will give me a big hand.
“I realise that for the last few months I have not been able to do what is expected of me. It has been a tough period for me, I try to improve every day and train hard, including on free kicks.”
Lazio have been inconsistent so far this season, but after beating arch-rivals Roma in the Derby della Capitale, have shaken off a taboo.
“We have tended to follow up a good result with a bad one, so it was important today to get the victory. It depends on us and we want to stay up there.”
Director Igli Tare told DAZN before kick-off that Milinkovic-Savic was continuing contract negotiations and that his future did not depend on Lazio qualifying for the Champions League.
His current deal is due to expire in June 2024 and the midfielder remained tight-lipped.
“I am concentrated on the pitch, helping the team and achieving our objectives for the season. I don’t want to talk about the contract renewal, we’ll see at the end of the season.”
It is reported that Milinkovic-Savic’s agents are working to help Lazio agree on a price-tag for the summer, as if he does leave, he will not do so as a free agent and rob the club of its biggest asset.