Inter Milan coach Antonio Conte believes his players’ anxiety played a part in conceding a late equaliser to AS Roma in their 2-2 Serie A draw on Sunday.
The Milanese side struck twice in an electric start to the second half at the Stadio Olimpico to fight back after going behind before the break. But they faded after going ahead and came under late pressure, with Gianluca Mancini eventually heading in an 86th- minute leveller.
“I think that at the end of the game there was a bit of anxiety to get an important result, which mentally causes you to drop deeper,” Conte told DAZN.
“On the bench we were asking them to press high up the pitch, because sitting deep isn’t a good thing. But the fact remains that on a psychological level, the team that’s losing throws themselves forward and the winning team looks to hold onto the result.”
Conte was questioned about conservative substitutions, as he took off striker Lautaro Martinez, midfielder Arturo Vidal and goalscorer Achraf Hakimi after his side went ahead.
“Vidal asked to come off for an injury, Lautaro gave everything for 75 minutes because I asked him to drop deeper next to Vidal when out of possession,” Conte said. “Hakimi had run a lot and was losing a lot of important balls. This is our third game in seven days, so you make changes.”
Inter are second in the Serie A standings on 37 points, three behind city rivals AC Milan, with Roma third on 34. Roma coach Paulo Fonseca was frustrated by his team’s slow start to the second half when they conceded twice in seven minutes.
“We had a good first half, but in the first 15-20 minutes of the second half we weren’t the same team,” he said. “After Inter scored the second goal, we started being ourselves again. Unfortunately, those 15-20 minutes were fatal.”
