Mourinho: ‘I prefer this win to 5-0 for Roma’

Jose Mourinho confirms Lorenzo Pellegrini will be out ‘for a few weeks,’ while the coach insists he enjoys the 1-0 win over Torino ‘more than a 5-0, because it means you had to suffer as a team.’

The Giallorossi scraped a victory at the Stadio Olimpico thanks to the Tammy Abraham strike, but the hosts had only 32 per cent possession on home turf.

They sat back so much that it must’ve been a planned approach to wait and hit Toro on the counter-attack.

Serie A | Roma 1-0 Torino: Abraham breaks toothless Toro

“It was a plan to sit a bit deeper, yes. Their centre-backs spread out and it’s not easy to press them with two strikers, so we had to show patience,” Mourinho told DAZN.

“I expected to score a few more goals this evening, even if Torino are strong defensively. I like winning in this way, this victory I enjoy more than a 5-0, because it means you had to make the effort, suffer as a team.

“When you are playing against a team that man-marks, you need mobility, so our players had to keep alternating position. Keep doing that, sooner or later they will make a mistake.

“The important thing is to defend well, then the goals will arrive eventually. I like this type of victory. We dominated and controlled Genoa and Zorya, but this was a different match.”

There was bad news, as Pellegrini limped off with a muscular issue just 15 minutes into the match.

“Unfortunately, Pellegrini will be out for a few weeks.”

Abraham seems to gel really well with his teammate Nicolò Zaniolo and Mourinho explains why.

“It started off the field. There’s a group of young players who always hang around together, plus it’s good for Nicolò to learn English!”