Mourinho challenges Abraham to improve despite derby double

By Sports Desk March 20, 2022

Jose Mourinho has challenged Tammy Abraham to build on his performance in the Rome derby after the former Chelsea striker netted twice in a 3-0 win.

Abraham opened the scoring for Roma in the first minute of Sunday's clash with Lazio. That was the fastest goal ever recorded in a Serie A Rome derby.

It also made Abraham only the second English player to score in the match, after Paul Gascoigne, who did so for Lazio back in 1992.

Abraham doubled his tally with a volley in the 22nd minute to take his tally to 15 league goals for the season, with Lorenzo Pellegrini adding a third for Mourinho's team before half-time.

Since the start of 2022, only Robert Lewandowski (12) has netted more goals in the big five European leagues than Abraham (nine), but despite the 24-year-old's sparkling form, Mourinho remains typically hard to please.

"Great performance," Mourinho told DAZN. "Today was really special because it seemed that everything we had planned was put on the field, Lazio in the second half tried to play with pride but we never lost control.

"No doubt, the boys deserved the victory.

"When you say Abraham is fantastic I disagree, he can do even more. I demand a lot of him because I know his potential, I'm not talking about goals but he must play every game with this attitude."

 

With Roma in such control before the break, their supporters in the Curva Sud began chanting "ole" at every pass, though Mourinho was visibly frustrated by this.

There was a curious moment just before half-time when Mourinho was furious with the Roma ultras in the Curva Sud, demanding they stop making mocking ‘ole’ chants at every pass.

"I don't like 'ole' things, I don't like how they are interpreted by the players on the pitch. You always need respect for your opponent," Mourinho explained.

Roma's win lifted them to fifth in Serie A, putting them in prime position to secure a Europa League place. Lazio, meanwhile, are two points behind in seventh.

Maurizio Sarri was furious with his side's reaction to conceding after 56 seconds.

"The goal immediately cut our legs and we didn't have the strength to react," he told DAZN. "We immediately lowered our heads and I'm sorry we lost a derby like this, I know how much the fans care.

"We got nervous right away, making mistakes. We immediately lost our minds, we weren't lucid because there would have been time to straighten it."

Related items

  • Netherlands 5-2 Bosnia-Herzegovina: Zirkzee enjoys dream full debut Netherlands 5-2 Bosnia-Herzegovina: Zirkzee enjoys dream full debut

    Joshua Zirkzee marked his first Netherlands start with a goal and an assist as Ronald Koeman's side kicked off their Nations League campaign with a 5-2 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina. 

    The Manchester United forward opened the scoring early on at the Philips Stadion.

    A quiet start to proceedings burst into life in the 13th minute as Simons' deflected effort dropped kindly for Zirkzee, who nodded the ball beyond Nikola Vasilj. 

    But with their second shot on target, Bosnia snatched an equaliser after Denis Huseinbasic's defence-splitting pass picked out Ermedin Demirovic, who finished smartly. 

    Teed up by Zirkzee, Tijjani Reijnders restored the hosts' advantage before teeing up Cody Gakpo, who maintained the goalscoring form he displayed at Euro 2024.

    Bosnia provided a nervy finish to proceedings after Edin Dzeko neatly poked the ball beyond Bart Verbruggen, only for Wout Weghorst and Xavi Simons to seal the win in the closing stages.

    Data Debrief: Gen Z(irkzee)

    Having only held a one-goal advantage until the 88th minute, the scoreline eventually reflected the Netherlands' dominance in Eindhoven. 

    Koeman's side generated an expected goals (xG) total of 4.09, registering 28 shots, nine of which were on target, compared to their opponents' four and three.

    Zirkzee, meanwhile, became the fourth player after Klaas Jan Huntelaar, Bas Dost and Vincent Janssen to contribute a goal and assist on their starting debut for the Netherlands.

    It was also the first Netherlands game with three players representing the same non-Dutch club side (Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch and Gakpo for Liverpool) since November 2013 (Michel Vorm, Dwight Tiendalli and Jonathan de Guzman for Swansea City against China). 

  • Germany 5-0 Hungary: Musiala wreaks havoc against Hungary Germany 5-0 Hungary: Musiala wreaks havoc against Hungary

    Jamal Musiala's scintillating performance led Germany to a 5-0 rout of Hungary in the Nations League.

    Musiala was unstoppable as he scored once and teed up three more goals in a five-star display for Julian Nagelsmann's team in Dusseldorf.

    The Bayern Munich star was involved in the opener when he saw a shot rebounded to Niclas Fullkrug in the 27th minute, with the West Ham striker making no mistake to slot home into an empty net.

    Musiala eventually got on the scoresheet himself after the restart as he sprinted away from the Hungary defence on the counter and coolly finished past Peter Gulasci.

    The 21-year-old turned provider once more in the 62nd minute as he laid the ball off for Florian Wirtz to strike home from the edge of the box, before he made it a hat-trick of assists when he played in club-mate Aleksandar Pavlovic.

    In the only goal of the game not involving Musiala, Kai Havertz had to do it all himself. The Arsenal forward, who had previously rattled the crossbar, was tripped in the box before calmly passing his penalty into the bottom right corner.

    Data Debrief: Musiala Magic

    Musiala was at the centre of the action and provided four goal contributions (1G 3A) in an international match for Germany for the first time. The playmaker is the youngest player to register four goal involvements in a single Nations League game for any team.

    Prior to Musiala's strike, Germany's last six goals in the Nations League had all been scored by Premier League players.

    Germany really clicked into gear after the break, and are unbeaten in their last five Nations League matches when leading at the break (W3, D2) dating back to October 2018 against France (L1-2).

  • Carsley casts the credit to England's players after debut win Carsley casts the credit to England's players after debut win

    Lee Carsley insisted his England players "have to take all of the credit" after winning his debut match as England manager.

    Interim boss Carsley oversaw a 2-0 victory over the Republic of Ireland in their Nations League fixture at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

    It marked the first time Ireland have lost a home match against England since May 1964.

    The former England Under-21s manager, however, was keen to credit his players after first-half goals from Jack Grealish and Declan Rice saw England over the line.

    "The lads have to take a lot of credit, all of the credit. I think we've showed we've got some real talent and we can be really pleased with the clean sheet as well," he told ITV.

    "I thought it was good in parts. You've seen some of the things we've tried to do."

    Carsley, who represented Ireland as a player, was vindicated in recalling Grealish after his omission from the Euros squad in the summer as the Manchester City playmaker doubled the lead in the 26th minute.

    "I thought they [Rice and Grealish] took their goals really well. Really well-worked moves and brilliant finishes. I think, moving forward, they can both add a lot more goals to their game," he said.

    "Jack definitely doesn't have anything to prove to us, we can see his quality, but today will have done him the world of good, getting another goal for England and hopefully he can continue that form."

    The new England manager also opted to start Anthony Gordon on the left wing after the Newcastle United winger had struggled for minutes on the pitch under Gareth Southgate at Euro 2024.

    "On a really dry sticky pitch, it's not ideal for dribblers but I thought Anthony was a real threat. He's carried on his form from last season and he looks a really dangerous player," enthused Carsley of Gordon, who got all three of his shots on target and played two key passes.

    The manager played his part in ending Ireland's four-game unbeaten run against the Three Lions on home soil (W1 D3), though England could have made their dominance pay more.

    "I think you've got to give Ireland credit as well, they are very resilient, they closed the gaps and our space maybe became a bit wider [in the second half]," reflected Carsley.

    "We found it a little bit more difficult to get through them but at 2-0 we were quite comfortable."

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.