Stefano Pioli “had to admire” nine-man Lazio for pushing Inter, though “defeat is disappointing in a fundamental round.”
Despite going down to 10 men after 24 minutes and nine on the hour mark, the Aquile kept attacking and were caught out on the counter by Hernanes.
“There is certainly disappointment, as this was a fundamental weekend and we could’ve taken advantage of slip-ups from our opponents,” the Coach told Sky Sport Italia after a 2-1 loss.
Stefano Pioli “had to admire” nine-man Lazio for pushing Inter, though “defeat is disappointing in a fundamental round.”
Despite going down to 10 men after 24 minutes and nine on the hour mark, the Aquile kept attacking and were caught out on the counter by Hernanes.
“There is certainly disappointment, as this was a fundamental weekend and we could’ve taken advantage of slip-ups from our opponents,” the Coach told Sky Sport Italia after a 2-1 loss.
It was a strange round, as the two Roman clubs both lost and Napoli were held 2-2 by bottom club Parma, so the race for a top three finish remains wide open.
“There’s disappointment also because we started the game so well, were almost 2-0 up, worked so hard and continued to fight to the end.
“It’s a shame, as Inter are a strong side anyway, but with the way my team worked, ran and generously gave their all with nine men, I have to admire them.
“We will keep going and continue fighting for our objectives. I already knew I had an excellent squad with a wonderful attitude, combining effort, spirit and determination with quality.
“Nobody at the start of the season thought we’d be so high up the table and challenging for a Champions League spot.
“We are here, we deserve to be here and even down to nine men we had the chances to go in front, for example with that save on Miro Klose.”
Lazio have just one win in their last five games and have sorely missed injured centre-back Stefan de Vrij.
“De Vrij is an important player, certainly, but we are working on situations and we weren’t positioned properly on the first goal.
“It’s a shame, as we had the right approach and can’t help but think it would’ve been a different result if we’d kept 11 or even 10 men on the field.”
The decisive Hernanes goal was on the counter-attack, as nine-man Lazio continued to push for the victory.
“The generosity of my players is incredible, but at times it makes us lose sharpness and make mistakes. In Serie A you need to read the game well and today we didn’t do that throughout.
“It’s not a tactical dogma that I want the defence to push up. Yes, we are an attack-minded team and want to keep the side as short as possible, but it was a dangerous approach against a quality side like Inter.
“All games are decided by incidents. We had the chances to score more goals, the red cards made things more complicated, but the team gave everything it had. If we had scored with Klose, the whole situation could’ve changed.
“Unfortunately we didn’t do it, but we must look forward with great self-belief. We have tough games ahead and proved we’ve got what it takes.”