Inter defender Francesco Acerbi feels that ultimately the result is what matters after the Nerazzurri’s difficult 2-1 win over Parma in the Coppa Italia round of sixteen.

Speaking to InterTV after the match, via FCInterNews, the 34-year-old stressed that even though it had not been the most dominant display by the team, the fact that they got it over the line and reached the next round of the competition is what matters to them.

The Nerazzurri were a long way from their best through much of the match against Parma.

It took until nearly the ninetieth minute for Inter to muster their first shot on target of the entire match, and this was Lautaro Martinez’s deflected equalizer to send the match into extra time.

However, struggles like this can be a part of football, and the Nerazzurri players could hardly be accused of having given up.

From Acerbi’s perspective, this aspect was ultimately important, and now the team must move on to the next challenges.

“We won and that’s what’s important,” the defender said, “football is about winning.”

“We struggled, we risked it going to penalties,” he went on.

“Luckily we didn’t lose our shape, and in the end we managed to win it, that’s the only thing that matters, going through to the next round.”

Asked if he’s happy to have scored his goal, the 34-year-old simply replied that “I’m happy that we reached the next round, winning makes everyone happy, I’m happy when I see the smiles from my teammates.”

“Then obviously scoring a goal is always nice, especially if it causes the team to win.”

And asked why the Nerazzurri barely managed any shots on target in the match, Acerbi suggested that “We played a slow, predictable match.”

“The opponent came here to San Siro with the aim of stopping us from creating chances, and we lacked a bit of clarity,” he continued.

“We knew we wouldn’t win it 3-0, that it would be a difficult match.”

“But we’ve always shown that we can still live with difficult periods, now we take the result and head to the next one against Verona,” Acerbi concluded.