Reja relieved with result

Lazio coach Edy Reja breathed a sigh of relief as the Serie A club got back to their winning ways with a 1-0 win over Sampdoria on Sunday.

Lazio, who were felled by relegation candidates Lecce last weekend, renewed their pursuit of league leaders Milan in a scrappy encounter at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

It took a late header from Czech substitute Libor Kozak to draw Lazio equal on points with second-placed Napoli, who drew with Fiorentina on Saturday.

Reja’s side are now four points shy of Milan, whose lead has dwindled following back-to-back draws.

Reja admitted his side was short of confidence going into the match after being embarrassed by Lecce, but believes the experience will hold Lazio in good stead as the latter half of the season unfolds.

“We didn’t have a good performance from a technical point of view in the first half of the match,” Reja told reporters.

“The team played short, slow, and were afraid.”

“We haven’t been sure, since Sunday’s match, we were a bit worried in our approach to the match. We’ve played poorly and made many slow passes.”

“In any case, this may happen during the whole championship. I hope we can get this period over with quickly and we get back to playing how we used to.”

“After this win I expect the team to be more relaxed. This is an important result for us.”

“We have gained three points and are now second in the table and it is an important result at the beginning of the second half of the season.”

“We should not forget what this team has done. Of course we should wait and be patient, but we’ll get back to our previous performances.”