“Javier Pastore? He scored a very nice goal but he too disappeared after the goal, he could not help out his teammates.”
Roma coach Di Francesco furious after Atalanta draw
EUSEBIO DI FRANCESCO, AS Roma coach
JAVIER Pastore scored his first AS Roma goal but still came in for criticism from furious coach Eusebio Di Francesco on Monday after an Emiliano Rigoni brace helped Atalanta leave the capital with a share of the spoils in a 3-3 draw in Serie A.
Roma got off to a blistering start with former PSG player Pastore scoring two minutes into his first match at the Stadio Olimpico with a spectacular back-heel after a pinpoint Cengiz Under cross.
But Atalanta — who made a raft of changes ahead of their crunch Europa League playoff game this week — proved dangerous, taking advantage of sloppy Roman defending to pull ahead 3-1 at halftime. Belgian defender Timothy Castagne tapped in the equaliser after 19 minutes and within three minutes Argentine Rigoni got his first goal with the second on 38 minutes.
“Javier Pastore? He scored a very nice goal but he too disappeared after the goal, he could not help out his teammates,” Di Francesco said.
“We were too bad to be real, but we got it back on track.
“We did better in the second half but we didn’t defend well towards the end of the game which is why I got very mad,” added Di Francesco, whose wrist was bandaged after punching the wall of the coach’s bench in frustration.
Di Francesco shuffled his side at the break with World Cup winner Steven Nzonzi coming on for his debut after arriving from Sevilla, along with Justin Kluivert.
Alessandro Florenzi pulled a goal back on the hour mark before limping off injured with Patrik Schick thrown into the attack in his place.
But it was Greek defender Kostas Manolas who pulled the hosts level seven minutes from time, tapping in a Pastore free kick.
Roma, who finished third last season, have four points from two games and face a difficult task on Friday at AC Milan, who are reeling after throwing away a twogoal lead to fall 3-2 to Napoli.
Champions Juventus’ 2-0 win against Lazio and Napoli’s comeback against AC Milan meant both have started their campaigns with the maximum six points.