Lazio coach Maurizio Sarri was pleased with their 2-0 win at Monza.

The result has Lazio five points clear in second-place.

“Monza are a side who have quality and sooner or later, they do make you suffer, so inevitably you will have to chase after them at times," Sarri told DAZN.

“It was a good performance, I just didn't like the final stages, because allowing a counter-attack in stoppages when leading 2-0 is not ideal game management, but it went well."

On the clean sheet, Sarri also enthused: “Our defensive solidity is what allows us to stay in the top places of the table. There were already signs of improvement last season, we have stepped up another level. Danilo Cataldi for instance did really well today, he had to chase down either one or the other Monza trequartista today and was tired after 70 minutes.

“Since Friday I have been talking about maturity, which is understanding the moment, learning from past mistakes. We had huge problems after midweek European games last season, which has almost disappeared this term. Instead, we seem to have lost ground in Europe and gained it domestically, although I believe that is an unconscious decision from the squad and environment around us.

“It is a journey, it is in progress, tomorrow we will train and prepare for Juventus. If we want to be a mature team, we need to wipe out everything that happened before and focus only on the next fixture."