Roma boss Luciano Spalletti vowed “to fix” discord with Edin Dzeko but was light-hearted in his tone. “Luckily he went to the bench right away!”

Dzeko was furious with Spalletti after his substitution during Roma’s 4-1 victory over Pescara on Monday, and the Coach joked how the striker “looked angry” as he left the Adriatico, before defending his decision to bring off the player.

“This is one of our most important victories of the season,” he told Premium Sport after the match.

Roma boss Luciano Spalletti vowed “to fix” discord with Edin Dzeko but was light-hearted in his tone. “Luckily he went to the bench right away!”

Dzeko was furious with Spalletti after his substitution during Roma’s 4-1 victory over Pescara on Monday, and the Coach joked how the striker “looked angry” as he left the Adriatico, before defending his decision to bring off the player.

“This is one of our most important victories of the season,” he told Premium Sport after the match.

“We had to bring it home and do something good in the game to increase our self-esteem: we did both, so it was a good test for the lads.

“The players deserve second place, but there are five games left and Napoli are looking like fearsome opponents.

Lazio? We’ll play the derby with strength, calmness and awareness, like we’ve seen tonight.

“The derby is one of those games in which you don’t need to pull your finger. The lads know how to get fired up for the game.

“Dzeko? I didn’t realise that Dzeko had told me ‘to be smart again’? I went into the dressing room and greeted everyone as usual.

“Now I’ll try to fix this because I didn’t notice any of it. He looked angry… Luckily, he went to the bench right away!

“Being the only striker I have, I’d say that without him, I’d never want to play. It wasn’t an act of rudeness.

“I took him off because he’s the only striker that’s played all year round. Emerson began to struggle and I had to take him off, as I did Paredes.

“I’d have taken off those in front of them otherwise, Dzeko, Salah, El Shaarawy, because I only have a few players in attack. it's a preventative reading.

“Finishing second would be an outstanding result, but based on the results in our upcoming matches, future thinking is easily reversed at a team like Roma.

“We need to see what Empoli and Crotone do as well. We have to lose everything in both of those games.

“Having brought home this result, it’s something fundamental for us.”

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