Jose Mourinho complained about the referee after Roma went down to nine men in their 3-1 defeat to Milan, but admits the performance was ‘of such a low level.’
The Giallorossi were beaten at San Siro by an early Olivier Giroud penalty and Junior Messias strike, both gifted by defensive errors, and a Rafael Leao counter-attack.
Tammy Abraham had got one back and Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s stoppage-time penalty was saved.
“We were still in the game, even when 2-0 down, but when Rick Karsdorp was sent off, it was over,” Mourinho told DAZN and reporters in his press conference.
“Having said that, the performance was of such a low level. If you look at the two opening goals, we gave the ball away so cheaply. The quality was really lacking today. I didn’t like the referee or my team today.
“The quality was also lacking for the referee and the VAR. I saw Tammy move his arm, but it was not a voluntary gesture to stop the ball. If you give this as a penalty, then also give a penalty for the fouls on Zaniolo and Ibanez. Give all three or don’t give any of them.”
Karsdorp and Gianluca Mancini were sent off for second bookable offences, while Bryan Cristante was shown a yellow card for dissent and all three will be suspended against Juventus on Sunday.
“We want uniformity in decisions, this is why I think the quality level is low and we are unlucky with referees too. The referee didn’t have character today. VAR wanted to get involved, we are little, if VAR lets the game go…
“I understood everything perfectly well straight away. I’ve been at Roma for six, seven months, I’m getting used to it, but this isn’t something we should be getting used to. You can’t tell if Abraham touches the ball with his arm or not. How was the second Milan penalty different to the Zaniolo incident?
“Having said that, I won’t deny our performance was not good. This is a medium level squad, so we are mid-table, where we belong. We made a lot of mistakes today, it wasn’t a tactical issue, it was all individual errors.
“I don’t like to do this, but I have to say that I do not understand what the referee and VAR were doing today.
“At this moment, the result is the worst thing, because it brings us zero points, but when I leave my mind will already be on the next game and it’s going to be tough. We have some difficulties and will try to improve.”
The only decision which wasn’t clear to me was possible foul on Ibanez. Zaniolo fell too easily. Sending off Karlsdorp was 100% the right call.
He was always going to complain about the ref if it went wrong. Roma were as poor as I’ve ever seen them today and deserved to be beaten by more.
See? Told you he’d cry nonsense after the game LMAO ref let a lot of Roma fouls go and lost control of the match as a result at times, and you have the nerve to complain about the ref? Your team had two reds but deserved a couple more.
Mourinho’s only tactic these days is to make as much fouls as possible on opponents. Go home old man, you’re past your best and that Roma performance was terrible. Even your interviews are boring and uninteresting now.
Even when Mourinho admits Roma played a terrible game, you Milan fans STILL can’t admit that the ref was god awful. It was not an even call, at all, and Mourinho should complain just as any other coach would. Roma would have deservedly lost regardless, but that was a pathetic display for a professional referee.
@ Frank
I challenge you to point out how he favored Milan. Ref was awful, but he did more in Roma’s favor. He turned a blind eye to two obvious yellow cards for Ibanez and Vina on the first half and lost control of the match soon after that. Both Roma red cards and pens were clear as day. If you think Ibra made a foul on Ibanez in the end then Mikhi’s Kung fu kick on Krunic was 10 times more a penalty.
Mourinho cries after every single defeat, more so when it’s against Milan, despite his team playing the most terrible football. Him admitting it isn’t a shock, people have eyes.
He is lucky that the game didn’t finish 5-1 or 6-1. Roma deserved nothing. These days, hearing Mourinho whinge is the media just trying to lighten up their reports. He has become a laughing stock. Either he complains or tries to look back to a decade ago, to remind us of his ‘achievements’.
As a coach, you need to be humble, and understand when your team is not performing, he needs to shut up and work hard on himself and his players, he has turned himself and his players to cry babies, always complaining…
that’s why ac is not winning anything what sort of referring gives such a high profile game 2 red cards
Well well it’s football, Milan fans are happy, Roma fans are pained, may be not for losing but for some glaring errors by a human in referee clothings.. it’s a “fight” and both teams will fight again. If not this life (season) in the after…
The referee played for Milan last night. It’s so obvious.
Karsdorp was literally sent off 16 minutes from the end of the game.. How can he say in one sentence that the performance was of “such a low level” but then say they were still in the game until Karsdorp was dismissed?
I LOVE IT! Now, for the first time, Mourinho is experiencing the other side of Football. I am fully enjoying seeing him in disbelief as his understandings are being shattered. It’s like watching a movie where the protagonist is going through a character arc!
Mou has already hinted at it in his last 2-3 conferences, but any day now I expect him to flip & go on a crazy rant about how coaching Roma cannot compare with coaching the Italian’s three Primadonnas.
He will probably cry, it will be marvellous!
I CAN’T BELIEVE HOW LUCKY MILAN WAS YESTERDAY! My God!
They received a laughable non-existent penalty after only three minutes of play that totally changed the game.
Then Ibanez felt sorry for Milan finishing last in their CL group & decided to gift them another goal. (Roger has such a soft heart, bless him.)
All the shots that Rui would smother comfortably went over and hit the goal post. That delusional Milan fans count these as goals is truly pathetic. Had the shots ACTUALLY went into the goal, Rui would’ve saved them easily and they wouldn’t even feature in the highlights.
Maignan was Man of the match. The saves he produced were worthy of Ballon d’Or: It was a “once in a lifetime” performance.
The ref & VAR will get their licences revoked after this game. The officiating was so one-sided in Milan’s favour that even Juventini cringed.
How Roma didn’t win 26-1 yesterday is beyond me. Lucky, LUCKY Milan.
(But Rossoneri will 100% lose their next game as no one can be THAT lucky TWICE.)
PS: Milan or Juve should sign that diver Zaniolo –He’s gonna win you at least 30 pens per season, double that Serie A record for non-existent penalties that you already hold!
So Chiffi suspended for the next game based off of his performance. The FIFTH time THIS YEAR a referee has been suspended for his disaster performance in a Roma game. BUT PLEASE KEEP TELLING US THAT ITS ALL IN OUR HEAD. Meanwhile TWO first team players suspended for the game with Juve AGAIN following the absurd red given to Abraham earlier in the season. And PLEASE the penalty was a bloody joke, not one person on that pitch had any idea why play was called back. VAR is for a clear and obvious error, not – let me dissect the action, zoom around until I find one angle that shows it took a slight deviation, or that one angle where his trailing back foot is half an inch off side…