Simone Inzaghi felt Lazio “certainly didn’t deserve to lose” to Atalanta, but knew VAR would rule out a late equaliser “when I saw the wait kept dragging on”.
The Biancocelesti thought they’d salvaged a point through Francesco Acerbi’s header, but after a long check it was ruled out as his foot was offside.
“When I saw the wait kept dragging on, I thought they’d probably disallow it,” Inzaghi admitted in his post-match interview with Sky.
Simone Inzaghi felt Lazio “certainly didn’t deserve to lose” to Atalanta, but knew VAR would rule out a late equaliser “when I saw the wait kept dragging on”.
The Biancocelesti thought they’d salvaged a point through Francesco Acerbi’s header, but after a long check it was ruled out as his foot was offside.
“When I saw the wait kept dragging on, I thought they’d probably disallow it,” Inzaghi admitted in his post-match interview with Sky.
“There are regrets, as we certainly didn’t deserve to lose here. Atalanta deserve respect, they’ve caused everyone problems, but our goalkeeper didn’t have to make a save this evening and we did not deserve to lose.
“This is one of those periods, as at the 99th minute we concede an equaliser, at the 93rd we have one disallowed. VAR has been going on for a couple of seasons now and after five minutes they found the line showing he had a few centimetres behind.
“It’s a point that would’ve been very valuable. It doesn’t change our season, but we are in a difficult period where luck isn’t going our way and we have to make it turn our way.
“We created many chances and I think Lazio played better in Bergamo than any other side so far this season. We are still fifth in the table, let’s not forget that, we’ll see what Milan do tomorrow against Bologna and we’ll be ready to begin again with this spirit on Saturday.”
Lazio poured forward for long periods, but came up short at the Stadio Azzurri d’Italia.
“We had prepared with Correa and Immobile to stay high and attack the space with more belief. We created more chances, but got the final ball wrong, or there were saves and then the goal was disallowed, so we did get into the right positions.
“Evidently we need to be more precise and also more determined. We had 27 shots on goal against Sampdoria and were held 2-2 at the 99th minute, so it’s just a period where we’re struggling to bring home the three points.
“These were important points taken away, but I am convinced with this spirit we’ll win them back soon. We’ve slipped back, yes, but remain in fifth place and it’ll be a sprint from here on in. Lazio will continue to battle for a top spot and place in Europe.”
Lazio are paired with Europa League legends Sevilla in the Round of 32.
“Joking over breakfast, we said we’d get Chelsea, Arsenal or Sevilla. Maybe we shouldn’t have said that! We knew it would be tough finishing second in our group, while we were unlucky in the draw for the group too, but as with Serie A, we must work to make sure good fortune turns our way.”