Simone Inzaghi concedes Lazio didn’t ‘have the mental strength to react’ in their 2-0 derby defeat to Roma and he’d already lost hope of a top four finish.
The Aquile were beaten by Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pedro strikes, while the best chance from Ciro Immobile was neutralised by a remarkable Daniel Fuzato save.
Simone Inzaghi concedes Lazio didn’t ‘have the mental strength to react’ in their 2-0 derby defeat to Roma and he’d already lost hope of a top four finish.
The Aquile were beaten by Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pedro strikes, while the best chance from Ciro Immobile was neutralised by a remarkable Daniel Fuzato save.
“Joaquin Correa tried this morning and this evening, but unfortunately he had this pain in the soleus muscle before the Parma game. We lost a very, very important player,” Inzaghi told DAZN.
“He played against Parma because Felipe Caicedo was unavailable, and today Caicedo only played 20 minutes with a pain-killing injection. Milinkovic had a triple fracture to his nose and wanted to play at all costs, but obviously he was limited.
“We had chances with Luis Alberto and Milinkovic-Savic, the Vedat Muriqi goal was very narrowly offside, and then Fuzato was extraordinary on Immobile.
“Roma had two shots on target and scored two goals, but in the second half we didn’t have the mental strength to react to the setbacks. It’s a pity, because it doesn’t make much difference to the table, but it is disappointing to lose a derby in the penultimate round of the season.”
This result means they are out of the running for a Champions League spot.
“I do think we already lost it in Florence, so that wasn’t the issue. We wanted to win the derby and we shouldn’t have gone into the break a goal down.”
Lazio are heading for the Europa League and most likely sixth place, a setback from fourth last season.
“It is our duty to keep growing. When I arrived five years ago, the team wasn’t in Europe, now we’ll have been in for five consecutive seasons.
“We were in the Champions League and reached the Round of 16, but in Serie A know we are up against some very strong teams who give everything to finish ahead of us.”
Director Igli Tare said before kick-off that he was optimistic on extending Inzaghi’s contract.
“I too am optimistic. I said with the President and director that we would meet up once the season is over, with unfortunately a compressed calendar due to COVID. We must try to end on a more positive note than we did tonight.”
Lazio have another two games to play, the rescheduled fixture with Torino midweek and then Sassuolo.