Skip to main content

Gervinho favouritism talk 'nonsense' - Garcia

Roma coach Rudi Garcia denied he treated Gervinho favourably after the forward's starring role against Palermo.

Gervinho scored a brace as Roma claimed a 4-2 victory in the Serie A on Sunday, lifting them up to fourth in the table.

Responding to claims he treated Gervinho as a favourite, Garcia denied that was the case – rather insisting the 28-year-old was just another player.

"Whoever says that is talking nonsense. He plays when he's on form, like he is now," Garcia said.

"It wasn't only about Gervinho today though. The whole team played well and we managed the lead well.

"We put in a great first-half performance with some top-drawer football."

Alberto Gilardino and Giancarlo Gonzalez, the latter in the 91st minute, got Palermo back into the game before Gervinho's sealer.

"I'm always relaxed. I work to improve this team," he said.

"You have to bear in mind we have a lot of new faces this season and have had some injuries too. I'm confident.

"There are a lot of positives signs, such as the fact we have the best attack in Serie A. I also like the guys' mentality. This is a united team that fights.

"We now need to learn to do that throughout the 95 minutes, as we've already shown against Juventus and Barcelona by the way."