MY ACCOUNT
Roma boss Jose Mourinho raged at the performance of his side and the officials after a 3-1 loss to Milan at San Siro, before revealing he turned down the opportunity to manage the Rossoneri in 2019.
Roma were 2-0 down inside a dismal opening 15 minutes, while a shambolic end to the match saw their defenders Rick Karsdorp and Gianluca Mancini sent off.
Mourinho, while furious at the nature of Roma’s collapse, also sought to apportion blame to the officials, who awarded Milan two penalties. The first was scored by Olivier Giroud, while the latter saw Rui Patricio save from substitute Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
“The quality of the performance was not good,” Mourinho said. “We gave away the ball so easily, our performance level was so low, but we were still in the game [until Karsdorp’s dismissal].
“But if we talk about our errors then we also need to talk about the referee and VAR. I have not seen a single image where you can clearly see that the one [penalty] given to Milan in the first half was a penalty. I cannot see it.
“You can see that Tammy [Abraham] makes a movement with his arm, but you can’t see any sort of clear contact with the ball.
“[Gianluca] Aureliano [the VAR official] was at home, but clearly he wanted to be here, given that he was the one that stopped the action.”
Mourinho was left even more frustrated when Nicolo Zaniolo and Roger Ibanez saw their own second-half penalty appeals denied.
“We just want consistency in the decisions,” he added. “As I said, we played poorly, but in terms of the refereeing, we always seem to be the unlucky ones.”
The former Inter coach then revealed he turned down the opportunity to manage the Rossoneri in 2019, before his ill-fated tenure at Tottenham.
“Three years ago, Milan wanted me, and I said ‘no’,” Mourinho claimed, before calling attention to the less-than-welcoming reception he was given by Milan’s supporters. “After what happened I am doubly happy with my decision,” he added. “They came, but I said, ‘go home, I’m not coming’.”
Mourinho has now won just four of his nine career clashes with Milan, losing both league fixtures this season, and his Giallorossi side now trail their conquerors by 13 points.
