Garcia laments defensive mistakes

Roma coach Rudi Garcia rued rare lapses from his side’s defence as they gave up two leads to draw 2-2 at Milan on Monday.

Garcia’s men conceded their sixth and seventh goals of the Serie A season in the clash at the San Siro, but could not get the all-important victory as they slumped to their fifth draw in their past six.

While Roma preserved their unbeaten season, they failed to further close the gap on leaders Juventus – who now top the table by five points from Roma in second – and Garcia lamented their defensive setup.

“We had so many scoring opportunities and usually win in these circumstances, but a point against Milan at San Siro is not a negative thing,” Garcia told Sky Sport Italia.

“In terms of football I have to be disappointed, as when we are in front twice we’ve got to avoid certain mistakes in defence. It was a good Roma performance overall.

“It’s true that we could’ve done better on the final pass, but we played to win and that is what I want from my team. We scored two goals away to Milan and are normally much more efficient in defence.”

Garcia credited Milan too, though, saying their attacking line-up led by Mario Balotelli was one of the reasons Roma conceded twice for the first time since March.

“Today we were weaker at the back than usual, but that’s because Milan have such strong forwards,” he said.

“Now we must remain concentrated and can’t do anything except win the next game with Catania.

“Above all in the second half Milan had a strong spell and our high pressing wasn’t working. I still think it was possible to do better here, but as I said it is a good point away from home.”

Roma veteran Francesco Totti returned from injury with a second-half substitute appearance, while Mattia Destro scored again for Garcia’s men and the coach praised the pair after the game.

“We knew the captain (Totti) didn’t have a full game in his legs and neither did Destro, so I decided to split it between them,” Garcia said.

“It’s really great news the captain has returned, as with him we are even stronger.

“We can still push forward, but now we must win at home.

“We know the only team that got through the Champions League was Milan and they couldn’t do that with a bad squad.

“We can do better in attack and when converting our many scoring opportunities.”