Midfielder Senad Lulic was on target as 10-man Lazio extended their unbeaten streak in Serie A to five games with a 1-1 draw at the Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi on Thursday.
Lazio are third in the standings after nine matches, six points adrift of leading pair Juventus and Roma.
Bosnia-Herzegovina international Lulic opened the scoring three minutes before half-time, while Belgian full-back Luis Cavanda gave away a penalty and saw red for a second bookable offence as veteran Luca Toni equalised from the spot with 21 minutes remaining.
Despite walking away with a share of the spoils, Pioli said the performance was better than the one that saw Lazio prevail 2-1 against Torino last week.
"I thought it was a good performance and, it may seem strange, but I liked the team more tonight than last Sunday when we won," Pioli told Sky Sport Italia.
"It's a shame about the penalty incident, as it was a naive error and there was more to it than just Cavanda's challenge, but the performance was positive and we remained solid even after going down to 10 men.
"Perhaps we should've been more determined in seeking the second goal earlier, as the momentum was with us and we were in control.
"We are only at the beginning but my team can improve in terms of confidence and conviction, not waiting for something to happen, but forcing the game to go their way."
