'He was wrong like everyone else' - Burdisso defends Piris after Roma's late defeat to Bologna

17 Sep 2012 10:45:00 PM

The stopper is perceived to have been at fault for two of the goals his side conceded against the Rossoblu on Sunday, but his team-mate has refused to put the blame squarely on him

Nicolas Burdisso believes Ivan Piris has been unfairly made a scapegoat for Roma's 3-2 Serie A defeat to Bologna on Sunday.

Alessandro Florenzi and Erik Lamela appeared to have put Stefano Pioli's men out of sight, but a late surge saw a Alberto Gilardino double, with an Alessandro Diamanti strike sandwiched inbetween, seal a shock comeback victory for the Rossoblu.

The right-back has since come in for a wave of criticism after he was adjudged to have been found wanting in the build-up to the goals that brought Bologna back on level terms, but Burdisso is refusing to single out the summer signing.

"We have to keep working with the same attitude that we've used so far," the Argentine defender told reporters.

"[Piris] has done something wrong like the rest of us, but had the misfortune to pay for his mistakes with the goals we conceded.

"He is working very well. We had a two-minute blackout, 120 seconds of madness, which arrived at a time when we had the game in our hands."

Burdisso then poured scorn over suggestions that his side had allowed complacency to creep into their performance at the Olimpico, but nonetheless took full responsibility for his side's defeat.

"Did we think we had already won? No," he added. "After Bologna equalised, we tried to reclaim the three points, but we did not succeed.

"We stretched them during the first 45 minutes, but we could not maintain our tempo for the whole game. In any case, our mentality is right.

"If there is a guilty party for not having taken at least a point at home, then that's me. I'll be the first to be disappointed with this result."

Roma have the chance to bounce back in Serie A against Cagliari on Sunday.