Maurizio Sarri wants to "continue and finish with" Lazio after the Biancocelesti tightened their grip on second place in Serie A with a 2-0 victory over Monza.
Goals from Pedro and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic moved Sarri's side five points clear of third-placed Inter, while they recorded a sixth successive clean sheet for the second time this season.
The former Napoli and Juventus coach, who has two years remaining on his contract at Lazio, was asked about his future following victory at Stadio Brianteo on Sunday.
But the 64-year-old is eager to continue his project with Lazio, while also praising the character demonstrated by his players.
"I have two more years, and I'm fine at Lazio," he said during his post-match press conference. "They made me feel important.
"If something sensational doesn't happen, I want to continue with Lazio and finish with this team. It's a club that gets inside you. I like this Lazio a lot.
"I had asked for maturity in not repeating the mistakes of the past. And the signs of maturity are coming, we played a serious game against a difficult team to face.
"We have quality, technique, breadth. Humility was needed, and we faced [Monza] in the right way."
Milinkovic-Savic made history with a tremendous free-kick – his seventh in Serie A – representing his 65th Lazio goal, making him the club's leading foreign scorer of all time.
The Serbia international also ended his goal drought having last found the net against Milan in January, and was thrilled to answer his critics.
Although the midfielder, who is out of contract in June 2024, refused to discuss speculation surrounding his future.
"These are three enormous points for us, as we are still in second place for a while longer," he told DAZN. "Finally, I managed to score and I really missed that feeling.
"There has been a lot of criticism and negative words. I tell you the truth, I did not accept them well, they knocked me down. I didn't think I deserved them after everything I've done over the years for this club.
"If I read too much, I hurt myself, but I accepted them, I worked and today finally came what I was waiting for and what everyone was waiting for.
"I am concentrated on the pitch, helping the team and achieving our objectives for the season. I don't want to talk about the contract renewal, we'll see at the end of the season."
Lazio 2-2 Milan: Leao salvages draw but Rossoneri still winless
Rafael Leao came off the bench to earn Milan a 2-2 draw with Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday, but Paulo Fonseca's side are still without a Serie A win this season.
Milan were in front at the break through Strahinja Pavlovic's eighth-minute goal, the Serbian rising highest to power home a header from Christian Pulisic's corner.
However, Lazio hit back in the second half with Valentin Castellanos and Boulaye Dia scoring in quick succession.
Nuno Tavares' first-time ball into the centre was met by the unmarked Castellanos to level in the 62nd minute, then Dia tapped another Tavares cutback home to put the Biancocelesti ahead four minutes later.
Fonseca reacted by sending on four substitutes, and those changes had a swift impact as three of them combined for the leveller.
Theo Hernandez – who joined Leao in being dropped from the start – picked out Tammy Abraham, and his lay-off allowed Leao to escape Tavares to fire past Ivan Provedel.
The game was preceded by an emotional tribute to the man who led Lazio to their last league title, Sven-Goran Eriksson, who died at the age of 76 on Monday.
A Lazio shirt bearing the Swede's name was displayed on the home bench, while a banner held up by the home fans read: "You brought us to the top of the world... Have a good trip Mr. Sven."
Data Debrief: Milan's slow start continues
New Milan boss Fonseca is already under pressure after overseeing a return of two points from his first three league games at the helm.
It is the first time the Rossoneri have drawn two of their opening three matches in a Serie A season since 2011-12, when they also drew two and lost one,
They went on to finish second that season, just four points adrift of champions Juventus. If a title challenge is to take place this term, rapid improvements are needed.
Napoli 2-1 Parma: Lukaku and Anguissa fire Conte's men to last-gasp win
Romelu Lukaku and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa scored in second-half stoppage time as Napoli fought back for a thrilling 2-1 victory over Parma in Serie A.
Newly promoted Parma, who stunned Milan last week, looked set to claim a second surprise win in as many games when Ange-Yoan Bonny won and converted a 19th-minute penalty.
The momentum of the game changed, however, when Parma goalkeeper Zion Suzuki was shown his second yellow card for a foul on David Neres with 15 minutes of the 90 remaining.
With no further substitutions available to the visitors, defender Enrico Del Prato took over in goal and went close to getting his team over the line with a clean sheet intact.
However, new signing Lukaku came off the bench to equalise for Napoli in the second minute of stoppage time, shortly after the Partenopei had seen a penalty overturned following a VAR review.
There was more drama to come at the death as Anguissa headed home in the sixth minute of stoppage time, though Napoli also had to survive one last scare as Pontus Almqvist was denied by Alex Meret at the other end.
Data Debrief: Flying start for Lukaku
Just as Napoli's hopes seemed to be slipping away, up stepped debutant Lukaku to level with a low strike, setting the stage for the most remarkable of comeback victories.
Across the last five Serie A campaigns, Lukaku has 29 goals in 48 home games for Inter, Roma and Napoli. That is the fewest home games required by any player to net over 25 goals in the competition during that span.
Parma, meanwhile, were left to rue the sending-off of Suzuki, who became their first goalkeeper to see red in Serie A since Antonio Mirante against Sassuolo, back in March 2015.
Abraham handed Serie A lifeline with Milan loan move
Tammy Abraham has secured a move to Milan, signing a season-long loan deal from Roma for the Serie A season.
Abraham suffered an anterior cruciate ligament tear at the end of the 2022-23 campaign that restricted him to just 12 appearances in all competitions last year.
The 26-year-old netted 27 times in 53 outings in his debut season with Roma, helping the side led by Jose Mourinho to Europa Conference League glory.
But the injury has seen him fail to regain his starting spot under Daniele de Rossi, with Roma signing LaLiga's leading marksman from last season, Artem Dovbyk.
Abraham's arrival at the San Siro marks another attacking option, having already welcomed Alvaro Morata from Atletico Madrid earlier in the window.
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