Ola Solbakken admits the 1-0 win over Verona was ‘not perfect,’ but he is happy to get his debut Roma goal and is trying to learn from Andrea Belotti’s work-rate.
The slender victory was decided just before half-time when Ola Solbakken ran onto the Leonardo Spinazzola back-heel flick and went sliding left-footed to turn in from nine yards.
It was the Norwegian’s first start in the Giallorossi jersey and his debut goal too, an important result especially considering Paulo Dybala and Lorenzo Pellegrini were injured, with Tammy Abraham going off after a knock to the left eye just 15 minutes in.
“I am really happy and proud of the team. We fight for each other, we play for each other. It is not a perfect football match, but they are a hard team to play against. I think we should be really happy with this match,” Solbakken told DAZN.
After Abraham went off injured, Belotti came on and fought hard for every ball, even if he wasn’t able to get on the scoresheet, largely thanks to a stunning late Lorenzo Montipò save on his header.
“Belotti is an easy player to play with, he is working really hard for the team and setting a good example for me. I am not super happy with how I played, but I need to adapt, to improve and this is the way to do it.”
Solbakken moved to Roma as a free agent from Bodo/Glimt in January and was asked for the first words he had managed to learn in Italian.
“Ciao and Forza Roma!”