Jose Mourinho hit back at those who ‘told me it was 19 months since Roma beat a top five club’ and explains how Tammy Abraham has changed his game to put a brace past Atalanta.
The Giallorossi famously struggled to beat any big clubs in recent years, but this was a surprise 4-1 success in Bergamo.
It was achieved despite having just 29 per cent of possession, as Abraham opened the scoring within 60 seconds, then Nicolò Zaniolo struck on the counter for his first Serie A goal since July 2020.
Chris Smalling met a Jordan Veretout free kick at the back post on the volley before Abraham completed his brace.
“The spirit was fantastic, the players clearly knew playing against Atalanta, you can never control the game for 90 minutes and they would have to defend deep at times,” Mourinho told DAZN.
“The team was excellent in every way. The referee was excellent, because the way Atalanta play with aggression and physicality, we needed a referee of this level and experience.
“We did so well with the duels in the box, were aware of the dangers, and then interpreted the moves out from the back even better. We did well in everything.
“Rick Karsdorp had his shinpad completely wrecked, but he knew we had nobody else on the bench to fill in and made the sacrifice.
“I kept hearing people say that it was 19 months since Roma beat a top five team. Now you can say it’s been 20 minutes.
“I don’t even want to talk about Inter, because for me they are on a level above all the other Serie A sides, but against the likes of Atalanta, Milan, Napoli, it’s not enough just to have tactical organisation or physical aggression, you need everything to be perfect.
“This was not a team that felt, and I use that in the past sense, confident when things went wrong. When we were under pressure, we didn’t do well. It has been fantastic for me to see the way we were able to suffer.
“In the past, if we’d conceded a goal on the stroke of half-time like we did today, we’d have crumbled. Instead, we continued with the same approach and this is a really big step forward for us in terms of mentality.”
Abraham scored his first Serie A brace today and helped to silence some of his critics.
“Of course he can score 20 goals per season, as he did it in England and I am not worried. We are not a team who dominate every game, that is impossible, and Abraham comes from a culture at Chelsea where his team always has the ball and controls the game.
“A centre-forward for us cannot just focus on scoring goals, he needs to do other work too. It’s important to have a reference point who wins duels with people like Palomino, Djimsiti and Toloi. Abraham has improved so much in that sense, I am sure he will score goals too.”
Zaniolo was booked in the opening minutes for a lunge, but went on to score his first Serie A goal of the season.
“It is important, but I always look at the things that might seem small and to me are important. He received a very early yellow card, so an emotional or unreliable Nico would get sent off. Instead, he kept his head, so I liked his attitude and emotional stability. even more than the goal.”