Mourinho’s Roma returned to winning ways at the Stadio Olimpico after their 2-1 loss to Real Betis in the Europa League on Thursday night.
Smalling and Dybala on goal as Roma return to winning ways
Roma started well when Chris Smalling scored a header for the second consecutive league game to put the hosts ahead after just six minutes.
Lecce’s night went from bad to worse after captain Morten Hijulmand was sent off for a tackle on Andrea Belloti. But despite going a man down, Marco Baroni’s men went into the break with the score tied thanks to Gabriel Strefezza’s equalizer.
However, Roma regained the lead immediately after the restart through a Paulo Dybala penalty following a foul on Tammy Abraham.
Dybala’s goal turned out to be the winner, but Mourinho was not impressed with his team’s performance that night.
Mourinho is not impressed
The Portuguese strategist revealed that he wanted the game to end early due to the poor performance of his players.
“Sometimes the players do the opposite of what I ask them to do,” Mourinho said after the match.
“I don’t remember many games in my career with 11 against 10 where I wanted it to end as soon as possible.
“There was tiredness, yes, physical and a little psychological too, since it’s hard to play on Thursday and then on Sunday,” he continued.
Mourinho admitted that his team could have scored more, but added that they were lucky not to concede a second draw as Lecce had their chances too.
“It is true that we had chances to score more, but it is also true that they were able to equalize with a bit of luck”.
“Today we didn’t play well, but we won. Obviously, I would prefer to have the points and a good performance, but for now, the result will do,” he added.
While Mourinho was happy with the points, the former Chelsea manager revealed that Roma are worried about injuries. Speaking after the match, Mourinho revealed that Roma would have to do without Dybala for the rest of the year.
The Argentina international suffered what appeared to be a hamstring injury after scoring his penalty and had to be taken off immediately.
“I say badly, but I think very, very badly. I am not a doctor, but in my experience and speaking with Paulo, it is unlikely that we will see it this year,” Mourinho concluded.
However, it is important to note that there is only one month of football left in the Italian Serie A this year due to the upcoming World Cup in Qatar 2022.
