Another day, another Mourinho moan
Jose Mourinho was once again blaming the referee after his Roma side drew 1-1 against Napoli on Monday, with the Portuguese boss fuming with the match officials.
Stephan El Shaarawy scored a stoppage-time equaliser for the away side to rescue a late point at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona after Lorenzo Insigne opened the scoring for Napoli.
The result does keep Roma’s slim hopes of reaching fourth position and automatic qualification for next year’s Champions League alive, however, the former Chelsea boss was less than pleased after the match.
‘It felt impossible to win’ – Mourinho
Speaking to DAZN after the full-time whistle, Mourinho said that it felt almost ‘impossible’ to win the game and that he believes his side did not ‘have the right’ to a fair chance at winning the clash.
He said: “Roma demand the right to be allowed to try to win games. At times, I felt ashamed. It seemed impossible to get a positive result. I celebrated because it seemed impossible during this game to get out of here with a positive result.
“That’s not because my team did not play well, because we did and improved during the game, but I had the sensation it would be difficult, if not impossible, to leave here with a positive result.”
"My players deserve a huge pat on the back."
🎙️ Jose Mourinho reflects on #NapoliRoma…#ASRoma pic.twitter.com/8Fm7Op5pY5
— AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN) April 19, 2022
Roma – who defeated Bodø/Glimt in the Europa Conference League to set up a semi-final tie against Leicester – currently sit fifth in Serie A, five points behind Juventus.
Mourinho unhappy with ‘errors’
Insigne’s opener on Monday came from a penalty after a VAR check, with Mourinho also frustrated about Alessandro Zanoli not being shown a second yellow card and Nicolo Zaniolo being denied a penalty.
“My team was fantastic this evening. We wanted more, but we achieved what was possible… We still have the right to play and try to win games. Today it seemed like we did not have that right to play in order to win this match,” Mourinho added.
“I read also something written by someone with responsibility who said the league will be decided if the referees make errors against the three challenging for the Scudetto (AC Milan, Inter Milan, Napoli)… enough. There ought to be a little respect.”
Mourinho’s men face off against second-placed Inter Milan on Saturday, hoping to close the gap on Massimiliano Allegri’s Juventus side.
Related links:
- Jose Mourinho aims petty dig at Bodo/Glimt after touchline bust-up
- Wayne Rooney says gap between Man Utd first team and academy was ‘huge’ under Mourinho
- José Mourinho confronts journalist during press conference
