Thiago Motta is above all glad that Bologna beat Lazio ‘respecting our style of football’ and suggests Joshua Zirkzee reminds him of Ronaldinho, but ‘is special’ in his own way.
The Rossoblu notched up a fourth consecutive Serie A victory, having also beaten Fiorentina 2-0 on Wednesday in their rescheduled fixture that was delayed due to the Supercoppa Italiana.
Jhon Lucumi’s intercepted pass had allowed Gustav Isaksen to open the scoring, but Oussama El Azzouzi pounced on an error playing out from the back to equalise before a well-worked Joshua Zirkzee finish turned it around.
“I am very happy, this was an interesting test for us, against a good team who are in a fine period of form. We won playing our football, respecting our style and trying to have the ball at our feet. We defended well against a tough side with important players, but we played to the end, and that leaves me very satisfied,” Thiago Motta told Sky Sport Italia.
“We did not lose our identity or our ideas right to the final whistle.”
There were also a few scares, including a Lucumi goal-line clearance and Lukasz Skorupski fingertip save.
“Lucumi had a difficult situation in the first half where we conceded, errors happen in football, but the important thing is the way you react. Not just the goalline clearance, but the way he played with calm, continuing to take necessary risks and pushing forward. That is a great example to everyone.”
Zirkzee is the Bologna top scorer and was on target again this afternoon, attracting yet more attention from other clubs – as well as comparisons to previous stars.
“He said that his idols are Ibrahimovic and Batistuta, who are two excellent players. Seeing him day to day, he reminds me of the Ronaldinho I played with at Barcelona, but I cannot compare him to anyone. He is Joshua, he is special, he enjoys his football and above all works very hard in training.
“Since the first day of pre-season, he has always been the first to arrive at the camp. He has become a leader and it’s all to his credit. We just need to keep accompanying him, because he is certainly on the right path.”
This was a rare away win for Bologna, whose only previous victory outside the Stadio Dall’Ara was against rock bottom Salernitana.
It allows them to catch Atalanta in fourth place on 45 points, although La Dea have a game in hand against Inter, to be played on February 28.
“We will enjoy this deserved victory against a great team. This enthusiasm in the city is positive, it helps us to keep working in the right way, but we did that regardless of our period of form.
“We’re in good shape, that is clear, and we have to turn our focus next to Hellas Verona, who showed Juventus yesterday that they are very complicated opponents. As for the rest, it is too early to say.”
Verona held Juventus to a 2-2 draw at the Stadio Bentegodi last night.