Roma loses again, Mourinho still talks about referees

One victory in the last seven games. Only 4 out of possible 15 league points during the last month. It is clear that Jose Mourinho is not the savior as expected. It would be even legitimate to ask during the international break how safe is Jose Mourinho's position? Because while defeats like those from Milan, Juventus, or Lazio can be somewhat tolerated, what happened to the Romans today at the Pierluigi Penzo stadium falls under the item "unacceptable". The problem is, that word keeps coming back to Mourinho. After humiliation in Norway (6-1) and a draw in Rome (2-2), another unacceptable result for the Portuguese - Venice - Roma 3: 2!

Although he tried to take the pressure off himself after he came to Olimpico, creating the atmosphere that he is here for a long run and will develop a long-term strategy, Mourinho is definitely in trouble after the new failure. No less than five defeats in the first 12 rounds are far below the standards and reputation of the Roman club. And after today's performance, when Rui Patricio took the ball out of his net three times but saved at least two more goals, there is no doubt - the Portuguese expert will not be able to avoid critique from various pundits and journalists.

Neutral observers watched a great match in Venice. The two teams sent a combined 39 shots on goal (Roma significantly more - 26), and the number of goalscoring opportunities just rose as the game was nearing its end. And those missed opportunities were the thing that annoyed Mourinho the most.

„We created many opportunities, many half-chances and when you get into dangerous positions and don’t make the right final ball, that is frustrating. We did it about 20 times, with attacking players like Veretout and Pellegrini near the forwards, but we didn’t make the pass. How is it possible to create so much and then not score?” Mourinho told Sky Sport Italia.

Conte: ‘My team needs to suffer’, Mourinho: ‘We had two penalties’

And it goes without saying that Roma coach again had complaints about the referee. Mourinho was furious as the penalty awarded to Venezia for the 2-2 draw was not dissimilar to the one not given to Roma against Milan for Simon Kjaer’s intervention.

„Another important part of the story is Venezia’s second goal. I have to protect myself here and keep my feelings to myself over what is happening. I could’ve talked about the players who should’ve got yellow cards for tactical fouls, those are small details. I could say we had many chances to go 3-1 up, above all with El Shaarawy and it’s difficult to miss, but the truth is we were 2-1 up and in control. What happened, for me… I don’t want to say anything else. I prefer to just say it was a very, very important moment of the match. That is all. Maybe one day I will understand why certain incidents happen. There are things that stay hidden for years and one day I will understand them” said Mourinho, who is still confident his team will reach the fourth place by the end of the season. Maybe they will, but will he be there to see it?

SERIE A - Round 12

Friday

Empoli - Genoa 2-2 (0-1)

/Di Francesco 62, Zurkowski 71 - Criscito 13 pen, Bianchi 89/

Saturday

Spezia - Torino 1-0 (0-0)

/Sala 58/

Juventus - Fiorentina 1-0 (0-0)

/Cuadrado 90+1/

Cagliari - Atalanta 1-2 (1-2)

/Joao Pedro 27 - Pasalic 6, Zapata 43/

Sunday

Venezia - Roma 3-2 (1-2)

/Caldara 3, Aramu 65 pen, Okereke 74 - Shomurodov 43, Abraham 45+2/

Sampdoria - Bologna 1-2 (0-0)

/Thorsby 77 - Svanberg 47, Arnautovic 78/

Udinese - Sassuolo 3-2 (2-2)

/Deulofeu 8, Fratessi (og) 39, Beto 51 - Berrardi 15, Frattesi 28/

Lazio - Salernitana 3-0 (2-0)

/Immobile 31, Pedro 36, Luis Alberto 69/

Napoli - Verona 1-1 (1-1)

/Di Lorenzo 18 - Simeone 13/

22.45: (3.15) Milan (3.50) Inter (2.35)