DBasia.news – AS Roma continued to make a scene in pre-season matches. This time, Jose Mourinho’s team had to end the match with eight players when they met Real Betis.
In the match at Estadio Benito Villamarin, Sunday (8/8), Roma had to be defeated by a score of 2-5. However, the behavior of the Il Giallorossi squad with Mourinho was more in the spotlight.
The first match was fierce and interesting. Betis were able to close the first half with a 2-1 advantage.
Rodri (4′) and Nabil Fekir (30′) scored the Betis goals. Meanwhile, Roma’s one goal was contributed by a brand-new bomber from Uzbekistan, Eldor Shomurudov.
Roma were then able to equalize early in the second half through the action of Gianluca Mancini. The match became even more exciting.
However, Betis’ controversial goal scored by Alex Moreno in the 58th minute changed the flow of the match. The Roma players protested because they thought there was a handball violation.
Moreno intended to make a flying header when he received the rebound that hit the bar at the goal. But he failed to head the ball perfectly and it hit his abdomen.
Moreno then forced the ball and appeared to hit his hand. The referee who did not see it still validated it as a goal.
The strong protest by Roma players continued. Lorenzo Pellegrini received a second yellow card and was sent off.
The sanction made Mourinho come into the field. However, the Portuguese tactician was also immediately given a red card.
After the match resumed, the emotions of Roma players seemed to have increased. Mancini and Rick Karsdorp finally caught up with Pellegrini to the locker room for receiving a second yellow card as well.
With only eight players, Roma could not keep up with Betis’ game. The hosts scored two additional goals through the actions of Cristian Tello (80′) and Rober (83′).
Not the First Time
This is not the first time Roma’s players have acted out in a pre-season. An even bigger commotion occurred when they met FC Porto at the end of last month.
At that time Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pepe almost hit each other on the field. Both of them were emotional after clashing into each other.
The incident forced other players and officials on the bench to enter the field. However, no red card came out of the referee’s pocket.
This is certainly a bad precedent for Mourinho. He must be able to fix the emotions of his players before fighting in Serie A.