Roma coach Paulo Fonseca praised Chris Smalling for their 1-0 defeat of Sampdoria.

Edin Dzeko was the matchwinner yesterday.

“The most important thing was to win the game, the team is doing well, we have been working together and we are more balanced," Fonseca told DAZN.

“We remained in control of the game today and we deserved to win the match. We can do even more, we could have scored more goals.

“We've spent more time together and we are feeling well.

“It's always difficult to play against Sampdoria, the team did well. When we have this certainty it's easier to win. The pitch was in good conditions despite the heavy rain.

“Chris [Smalling] is recovering, today he played a great game. Like [Gianluca] Mancini and [Roger] Ibanez, it's important to be solid at the back. [Lorenzo] Pellegrini did very well too."