Giampaolo hails his side’s commitment despite Lazio loss

Samp boss Marco Giampaolo was upbeat as regards his team’s performance against Lazio, despite the visitors leaving the Marassi with all three points on Saturday evening.

Speaking to Samp TV after the game, the coach said the Blucerchiati were up against not only a strong side, but a beast wounded by their derby defeat against city rivals AS Roma.

“We were facing a strong team, we knew that right from the start. They were hurt after the derby and that meant they were absolutely on their game, fully-focused. My boys gave everything, enduring punishment for 95 minutes.

“What we got wrong was conceding that second goal. We could have avoided that. We needed to stay in the game and go into the dressing room with one goal in it,” he added.

Nonetheless, Giampaolo was happy with the fight his team showed in the second period.

“We could have let the game get away from us, risking a third goal. But we had chances to get back into the match; the boys did really well from that point of view. Had we got a draw, that would have been a fantastic result.”

The boss then called on Samp to learn their lessons from the defeat: “If we’re clever about it we’ll take this defeat on board and it’ll add to our experience. That’s an area where, right now, Lazio have a bit more than us.”