Jose Mourinho has lashed out at referees and the VAR system after overseeing his Roma side fall to a 3-2 defeat to arch-rivals Lazio on Sunday evening. Maurizio Sarri’s men came out on top of one of the most enthralling Derby della Capitale editions in recent years to return to winning ways in Serie A.
Lazio took the lead ten minutes into the encounter through Sergej Milinkovic-Savic’s heroic header before Pedro finished off a blistering counter-attack to further upset his former employers. Roger Ibanez pulled one back for Roma on the stroke of half-time, giving the Giallorossi everything to play for in the second half.
However, Felipe Anderson latched onto Ciro Immobile’s perfect lay-off to tap the ball into a half-empty net just beyond the hour mark to put clear daylight between the sides. Marco Guida awarded a controversial penalty to Roma in the 69th minute, with Jordan Veretout making no mistake from the spot to bring Mourinho’s side back into the game.
Unfortunately for the ‘Special One,’ his team failed to complete the comeback. Pepe Reina thwarted Nicolo Zaniollo’s thunderous strike from inside the box to hand Lazio all three points. Unhappy with the outcome, Mourinho threw a wave of criticism towards the referees as he felt Roma saw some questionable calls go against them.
“Unfortunately, a fantastic game was ruined by the referee and VAR, who were not at the right level for this match,” he told DAZN, as relayed by TUTTOmercatoWEB. “The second goal could’ve been 1-1, it went to 2-0. The second yellow for Lucas Leiva was important too, because playing against 10 men makes a big difference. Pellegrini got a red, today Leiva got nothing.
“I think my team was the best on the field today. When you concede three goals, you made mistakes, but the second and third were counter-attacks and the second was a situation where the team was expecting a penalty in favour and not a counter against.
“We dominated, we gave Lazio huge problems, they controlled the final minutes the way they wanted to, and because the referee allowed them to do so.“
It was Roma’s second Serie A defeat this season following another tight 3-2 loss to Hellas Verona a fortnight ago. Despite an underwhelming result, Mourinho can be happy about his team’s overall attacking display at the Stadio Olimpico. The Giallorossi have now scored 2+ goals in all but one of their six league matches this term.
Roma will have a prime opportunity to bounce back when they take on newly-promoted Empoli at home next weekend. With four wins from the opening six Serie A fixtures, they remain in the top four, which should feel them with confidence moving forward.