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13th Sep 2021

Mourinho apologises for celebration after Roma’s last-minute goal

Charlie Herbert

“Today I am not 58, but 14.”

Jose Mourinho said he felt like a teenager again after Roma scored a dramatic late winner against Sassuolo in his 1,000th game as a manager.

El Shaarawy scored in stoppage time for the Italian giants to seal the three points for Mourinho’s men, sparking wild celebrations and a touchline sprint from the Portuguese manager.

Mourinho went on to reveal that after the celebration he apologised to the Sassuolo manager for his wild reaction, admitting that the occasion got the better of him, despite having spent the week downplaying his 1,000 match milestone.

He told DAZN: “During the week I was a liar, saying it wasn’t a special match. But it was a special match.

“It was a match with a special number for me and I always wanted to remember a match like this for my 1,000th game. I lied to everyone!

“It could have ended 6 to 6, 7 to 7, (Roma goalkeeper) Rui Patricio came up with two miracles, we missed a few goals. Extraordinary game, a tremendous emotion.

“Today I am not 58, but 14, when you start dreaming of a career in football. It was a child’s race, I apologised to [Sassuolo head coach Alessio] Dionisi, they played a fantastic game.”

The celebration was reminiscent of his famous touchline sprint at Old Trafford in 2004, when his Porto side eliminated Manchester United from the Champions League thanks to a 90th minute goal.

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