Roma coach Luciano Spalletti was delighted with their 3-0 rout of Bologna.

Mohamed Salah hit a superb hat-trick for the win.

“It went better in the second half and I had expected us to be less sparkling than usual, as we returned late on Thursday night after the Europa League game in Vienna," the Coach told Mediaset Premium.

“We were quite bad at the start, but then got into gear. There are a lot of injuries, but we have many talented players and they stepped up when needed.

“For example, Radja Nainggolan at one point was playing right-back with impressive power and precision. Having said that, when we reach the by-line eight times, we need to score more goals."

Roma remain solidly in second place, so are they the main Scudetto antagonists to Juventus?

“I just know that since the last break for international duty we've broken away from the rest, despite having to adapt due to injuries. If you have to play everyone in the wrong positions, then a few defects are going to emerge, but we've done well.

“In the second half I saw a great team that at times played beautiful football. Leandro Paredes had a knee problem and in trying to take weight off it risked hurting his ankle. Federico Fazio was not in great shape either, Bruno Peres had to do double work, so Bologna had the chances to score and we fell asleep slightly."