El Shaarawy and Mancini: ‘Roma now on right track’ after 4-1 victory

Gianluca Mancini and Stephan El Shaarawy insist Roma ‘are on the right track’ after beating Lecce 4-1 to end their dismal run of results.

The Giallorossi badly needed a boost after four consecutive Serie A defeats, two of them under new coach Claudio Ranieri.

They went into the break at 1-1 after Nikola Krstovic’s penalty responded to an Alexis Saelemaekers opener, but Mancini, Nicolò Pisilli and Manu Koné completed the 4-1 rout over Lecce.

It was their first win since beating Torino 1-0 on October 31, when they were still under Ivan Juric.

Mancini and El Shaarawy see the light for Roma

“Mancini gave me an assist against Bologna, so I returned the favour,” Man of the Match El Shaarawy told Sky Sport Italia.

“We had the right attitude, both attacking and defending. I saw the right approach in the previous games too, but we hadn’t reaped the rewards.

“There is a long road ahead of us now, we’ve done nothing yet, but we are on the right track.”

Roma will visit Como next Sunday in Serie A, then play Sampdoria in the Coppa Italia Round of 16 on December 18.

“We are behind in Serie A, it is all our own fault, so the three points are all that matter,” Mancini told Sky Sport Italia.

“I saw improvements and positive aspects from the very first game under the new coach. We have to keep focusing on the positives and keep getting stronger.”

Roma now need to climb back up the Europa League table too, as on Thursday they host Portuguese club SC Braga in a must-win game.

There was some bad news, as Zeki Celik went off in the opening stages with a muscular injury.