Lorenzo Pellegrini felt it was a penalty decision that changed the game, as Roma lost 2-0 against SPAL on Saturday afternoon.

The Giallorossi fell to defeat at the Stadio Olimpico after goals from Andrea Petagna and Kevin Bonifazi, with Petagna's penalty coming with 10 minutes remaining in the first half.

Pellegrini felt that decision was a turning point in a match that, until that point, Roma had been playing well in.

"It's a surprising result for us too," Pellegrini said. "Up until the penalty we were doing well, we were managing the game and creating plenty of chances. Then there was the penalty at the end of the first half. In the second half we kept trying right up until the end, but we weren't able to turn it around."

He added: "From my point of view we controlled the game from start to finish. They clearly did better than us, they scored twice and we didn't - but if we had won then you would have to say that we played well. We created a lot of chances, we had 60% of the possession and that shouldn't be completely overlooked. We needed to start again after this, though, learning from our mistakes and doing a better job of scoring."

Pellegrini rejected suggestions that the players had underestimated their opponents.

"I don't think anyone underestimated the game or prepared in the wrong way," he said. "There is always something to work on but I don't think there is any difference between facing smaller sides and big ones. We have to give our best in every game.

"Today we have lost and so there's clearly plenty to improve on - otherwise we would have won, just with the other games that didn't go well."