Allegri: Important for Juventus to win against Roma

Juventus beat AS Roma 1-0 at Juventus Stadium to go seven points clear at the top of the Serie A table. A brilliant turn and shot from star striker Gonzalo Higuain was all the difference between the two sides as the visitors threw everything they had at the Bianconeri to no avail.

“I was angry at the final whistle because we did not deal with our lead very well at all towards the end.

“Roma are very physical and we ran a few too many risks on set plays. I was cross with myself, as we should not have given Roma those opportunities. It’s another victory, we have 42 points with two games to play before the midway stage of the season.

“It was important to win tonight, we have Roma seven points behind us, but there’s a long way to go this term.”

Juve matched their own record notching their 25th consecutive home win tonight.

“I am not remotely interested in records, as they mean very little. I am interested in being top of the table at the end of the season.

“It was a good match, hard-fought and I compliment all 22 players who took the field. I kept Mario Mandzukic to the end so he could engage in the final battle.”

The last game for the winter break for Juventus will be against Milan in Doha, Qatar for the Italian Super Cup title, which will present their first chance at a trophy this season.

“Let us enjoy this success and then see what happens. It’s important to go into the Super Cup game against Milan with the right mentality. We lost to them in Serie A this season and this is a one-off game, we’ve got no second chance.

“Miralem Pjanic got a knock to the hip, hopefully he’ll be able to recover in time. Daniele Rugani had a great performance to keep Edin Dzeko quiet. Alex Sandro didn’t put a foot wrong when defending and can become extraordinary.

“Stefano Sturaro played in a very Arturo Vidal style fighting against the Roma midfield and winning many duels, which was not easy up against Daniele De Rossi, Kevin Strootman and Radja Nainggolan.”