After a three-game winless Serie A start, Roma used the international break to reset and throw a spectacle at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday night. Jose Mourinho’s men put seven unanswered goals past rock-bottom Empoli to get off the mark in 2023/24 with a stylish 7-0 victory.
Paulo Dybala ran the show, scoring from the spot to open the scoring and humiliating Empoli’s backline early in the second half to make it 4-0. Summer arrival Romelu Lukaku scored his first goal for Roma in an otherwise memorable night for the Giallorossi fans following a long period of suffering.
While the victory helped Mourinho steady the ship and reignite the morale within the squad ahead of the upcoming Europa League clash against Sheriff Tiraspol, his Empoli counterpart Paolo Zanetti is having a nightmare.
Roma might have put the final nail in the underperforming Empoli manager’s coffin. With Zanetti’s side nailed to the bottom of the table as the only scoreless, let alone pointless Serie A side, the Italian faces an uncertain future in Tuscany.
Speaking to the press after the game, the Roma boss admitted he felt sorry for Empoli and hailed Lukaku’s performance in his first Giallorossi start.
“I feel sorry for them [Empoli], but this is football and sometimes it happens,” Mourinho told DAZN, as relayed by Tuttomercatoweb.
Lukaku’s first goal for Roma came when the game at the Olimpico was already wrapped up, but Mourinho wanted to pay tribute to his pupil.
“It wasn’t important to me, maybe it was to him. I care about the team, whether he scores or not doesn’t change anything for me: I care that he gives a different profile to the team, we have to learn to play better with him and he with us,” the Roma coach concluded.
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