Lazio coach Vladmir Petkovic defended former Manchester United and Everton striker Louis Saha after his howling miss yesterday.

Petkovic said Lazio "deserved and strongly desired" their 2-1 win over Catania.

"It was a deserved and strongly desired victory. We had several chances and believed throughout the 90 minutes, even after the Catania goal.

"I have to compliment my players for the way they approached the game. Saha? I don't think he failed this test. He had a few difficulties, as it was his first game from the start, but he had two chances. If he had scored then we would've been talking about a different match."