Jose Mourinho admits 10-man Monza ‘did not deserve to lose’ against Roma today and explains what happened with his red card, but they ‘won it with heart.’
The Giallorossi seemed thoroughly uninspired for most of the match, including after Danilo D’Ambrosio was sent off in the first half.
Romelu Lukaku and Sardar Azmoun hit the woodwork, but Stephan El Shaarawy snatched the winner at the 90th minute on the volley.
“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. We made a lot of technical errors, the players were physically drained after long journeys on international duty,” Mourinho told Sky Sport Italia.
“Monza have good players, a good coach and made it difficult for the whole game. We won with heart, because we tried everything to get there, we hit the woodwork twice, while Monza also had scoring opportunities.”
Inevitably, the absence of injured Paulo Dybala and Lorenzo Pellegrini leave Roma lacking creativity.
“It was on a technical level a low game, but in terms of emotions, it was strong. Without Dybala and Pellegrini, we lack a link. I tried to make it with Aouar, but he has a completely different profile. We tried with two pure centre-forwards and had some positive results, but the truth is that when neither of them are creative or make that link with the midfield, it is more difficult.
“The Monza centre-backs are experienced, Pablo Mari was like a huge tree in the middle we couldn’t get past. They have players off the bench like Mota Carvalho and Vignato, oh Vignato was fantastic and caused us so many problems, we had to take risks and lose some of our solidity.”
Roma continue their remarkable trend of rattling the frame of the goal, so need to work on their finishing.
“It was so tough. When I saw Azmoun’s effort hit the post, I thought if that doesn’t go in, we’re not going to score. Fortunately, Stephan has this feeling with the goal and especially in the final minutes.”
It has been a tough week for El Shaarawy and Nicola Zalewski, who have taken legal action against gossip columnist Fabrizio Corona for alleging they are involved in illegal gambling.
“I have a very clear, honest rapport with my players. I prefer an ugly truth compared to a beautiful lie, so when Stephan and the kid told me they are clean, I believe them.”
Mou celebrated wildly on the touchline, as if he had just won a trophy, but moments later was sent off from the touchline for bickering with Raffaele Palladino’s Monza staff, miming a ‘crying’ gesture.
“I made some gestures, I said nothing offensive. It was because last season some talented people, but lacking in experience, had some nasty words about us. Today the only ones making a show on the touchline and trying to pressure the referee were Monza. I am honest, they are a good team and did not deserve to lose today.”
With Bryan Cristante re-routed to defence amid an injury crisis, Mourinho also has issues in his midfield.
“I want to play with Paredes and Cristante in midfield, but today we seemed to lack balance, we struggled in transition and the best performances have been with two solid midfielders because we are not a fast team. We do not counter well, we do not get back into shape quickly after losing the ball, so we have to work around that.
“Today we had to make changes and take risks because a draw and a defeat at home to Monza make little difference, we had to go for the win.”