Ranieri relief at silencing Cesena

Roma boss Claudio Ranieri labelled Cesena his side’s ‘bete noire’ after they stumbled to a 1-0 win over the Serie A strugglers.

It took a Max Pellegrino own goal with just a minute remaining for Roma to snatch a rare victory at the Stadio Dino Manuzzi.

After drawing 0-0 in the first fixture of the season between the two teams at the Stadio Olimpico, Ranieri believes there is something about Massimo Ficcadenti’s outfit that does not agree with his players.

“It was not an easy game, as if Roma had never won here before, it suggests Cesena are our bete noire,” Ranieri said.

“We played a good first half, pinned them back into their penalty area in the second and believed right to the very end.”

The introduction of Marco Borriello and Adriano proved influential, but Mirko Vucinic and Jeremy Menez made obvious their displeasure at being replaced.

“It is important for a team to have quality players,” Ranieri said.

“You have to make the most of them and use those talents, otherwise there is no point having them.”

“We spend too much time talking about moments of unhappiness during substitutions.”

With his team just one point outside the Serie A relegation zone, Cesena coach Ficcadenti was left to rue conceding the late goal, which he believes should not have stood.

“It’s a shame, as we prepared well for this game and were right in there until the goal,” Ficcadenti said.

“In my view it was offside, but we won’t cause controversy.”