Jose Mourinho admits a 10-man Monza side deserved more in a disheartening 1-0 defeat to Roma on Sunday afternoon. Despite falling a man down already in the first half, Raffaele Palladino’s men gave Giallorossi a run for their money at the Stadio Olimpico.
Danilo D’Ambrosio’s first-half expulsion tilted the scales in Mourinho’s favor. But the Portuguese manager fully grasps Roma struggled a big deal today, especially in the first 70 minutes. High-profile absences of Paulo Dybala and Lorenzo Pellegrini deprived his side of a much-needed cutting edge this weekend.
Chances were hard to come by for Roma, even though Romelu Lukaku and Sardar Azmoun rattled the woodwork in the second half. Second-half substitute Stephan El Shaarawy came to the rescue on the stroke of the full-time whistle with a delightful volley to topple Monza and get off the mark in the 2023/24 Serie A season.
Frustration by the touchline boiled over as Mourinho picked up another red card for provoking Palladino. The Special One put their differences aside in the post-game interview, congratulating Monza for a spirited performance in the Roma backyard.
“I think Monza did not deserve to lose the match. Obviously, I am very happy with the points, but I always felt my team was struggling,” the Roma boss said, as quoted by Gianluca Di Marzio. “We made a lot of technical errors, the players were physically drained after long journeys on international duty.”
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