Roma’s Mourinho lambasts Torino pitch following Serie A draw
i

Mourinho was unhappy with the state of the pitch during Roma's draw against Torino | Imago

Roma’s Mourinho lambasts Torino pitch following Serie A draw

Ayoola Kelechi 11:13 - 25.09.2023

The Special one was not happy that Roma had to play on Torino's poor pitch which caused them to drop more Serie A points

Jose Mourinho has decried the state of the pitch at Torino’s Stadio Olimpico Grand Torino as a major reason for his Roma side’s 1-1 draw with the Turin side.

Mourinho bemoans Roma draw

Roma had hoped to continue their recent streak of wins after two straight victories against Empoli in Serie A and Sherrif in the UEFA Europa League when they travelled to Turin to face Torino but were frustrated into a 1-1 draw by the home side, and according to Mourinho, the home turf. 

Roma took the lead midway through the second half but were pegged back by a late Torino goal from Duvan Zapata, and Mourinho was quick to point out the difficulty of conceding a goal so late in the game. 

var widgetLoaderConfig = widgetLoaderConfig || { CDN_URL: 'https://widgets.sportal365.com', APP_LINK: 'desktop', API_URL: 'https://africa.football.api.sportal365.com/', API_KEY: '2f852b4de2f3a5cf3188e74b33087bb4:2c18422f8e826a7d11aeed52edb2449e', LANG: 'en', REQUEST_INTERVAL: 30, ENABLE_BET_SLIP: false, AUTHOR: false, THEME: "light", TOURNAMENT_ORDER: "pulse_nigeria", LINK_OPTIONS_V2: { 'player' : { 'url': '/football/player/{playerId}' }, 'team' : { 'url': '/football/{teamId}' }, 'tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}' }, 'match': { 'url' : '/football/match/{matchId}', 'sort': { 'criteria': 'alphabetically', 'direction': 'asc' } }, 'configuration': { 'newWindow': false }, 'standings_tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}/standings' } } }; if (!document.querySelector('script[src="https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js"]')) { window.setTimeout(function () { let scriptCss = document.createElement('link'); scriptCss.href = 'https://www.pulsesports.ng/css/sport-widgets.css?v=1668785443'; scriptCss.rel = 'stylesheet'; scriptCss.type = 'text/css'; document.body.appendChild(scriptCss); let scriptTag = document.createElement('script'); scriptTag.src = 'https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js'; scriptTag.defer = true; scriptTag.onload = function () { window.setTimeout(function () { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }, 200); }; document.head.appendChild(scriptTag); }, 0); } else { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }

Speaking after the game, the Portuguese tactician told DAZN: “It was very difficult for us, I think very difficult for them too. When you concede a goal in the final minutes, it feels like two points dropped, but I respect the opponents, know they had a week to prepare while we had this midweek adventure.”

Mourinho blames pitch for disappointing result

Mourinho also commented on the difficulty of playing against a side like Torino, considering all the team’s attributes and their patchy turf. 

He said, “We conceded a goal from a dead ball situation. It is tough to play against teams who play in this style, with their physicality and intensity.

Torino vs Roma Serie A || Credit: Imago
Torino vs Roma Serie A || Credit: Imago

“We played well, in my view, it is not easy to create chances against them, it is not easy to play one-touch football on a pitch that is so bad that it makes the Stadio Olimpico at Roma look like a catwalk. I promise I will no longer insult the Stadio Olimpico turf after this.”

Roma have only managed one Serie A win in five attempts this season and will be hoping for better grass and more favourable outings if they hope to catch league leaders Inter, who are yet to drop points this campaign. 

Related content

Tags: