Montella stays positive

Roma boss Vincenzo Montella felt his side battled well despite difficult weather conditions in their 2-2 Serie A draw with Fiorentina.

In Sunday’s early kick-off, Roma came from behind twice to earn a share of the spoils at Fiorentina’s Stadio Artemi Franchi.

Adrian Mutu opened the scoring for the hosts in the 22nd minute before Francesco Totti restored parity from the penalty spot.

Alessandro Gamberini ensured the home side would lead at the break courtesy of a 35th minute goal, only for Totti to intervene again with a 52nd minute strike.

Caretaker manager Montella was pleased with his players’ resilience, particularly given the wintry weather that he felt hampered their usual style of play.

“There were probably a couple of factors behind this result, but one was definitely more of a factor than the other. In my view, I felt the wind was the major factor,” Montella said.

“In the first half playing was very difficult with that wind, especially for a team like ours which is used to playing and passing the ball. Fiorentina proved that too in the second half, because they had some problems too.”

“I prefer to stress the reaction that the team had in the second half because they reacted well and it wasn’t easy in the conditions we had to face.”

“That’s why I’m looking on the bright side and staying positive. Of course we have some things to regret in the first half. Usually when you start badly you finish badly as well. It’s difficult to finish better, but today we ended the game better than we started.”