Roma's boss Mourinho hails "aggressive" Lecce after 1-1 draw

An own goal from Roger Ibanez gave

the opener early in the 7th minute before Paulo Dybala equalized ten minutes later for

. Despite losing two points to a heroic performance from Wladimiro Falcone,

hailed the opponent in his post-match interview.

“It was a difficult game, a tough game. Obviously, you can see from our attitude and frustration in the final minutes that it is not the result we wanted. On the other hand, I will say with all honesty it was an intense, tough match. The pitch was horrible, there were huge problems playing one-touch football, it bounced strangely, it was hard to play quality football,”

Mourinho told

.

“Lecce are difficult, we had the chances to score a second goal and when you get that second against a team like this, it can open the door to more.

“I have nothing negative to say to my players, on an individual or collective level. I won’t say it is two points dropped, because we have one more point than we did when we arrived here.

“The last thing I say to my players is accuse them of individual errors. The Lecce goalkeeper made some remarkable saves, this is the kind of game where you’re not going to have 10 scoring opportunities. If you get five or six, you need to convert two.

“Lecce deserve credit, as they are so aggressive, win back the ball and click into the transition straight away, they never let their opponents relax for a moment. I expected it to be difficult, obviously we wanted to win, but I was by no means upset with the performance.

“A few years ago, Roma would’ve lost a match like this that was all about aggression and determination, so this shows definite progress. Sometimes coaches with more quality to draw on are insulting towards teams who focus on aggression, but that is not me, I credit them for their approach.”

On

Gini Wijnaldum

who made his second appearance for Roma after fracturing his leg in August 2022, Mourinho added: “

Gini played his first 10 minutes, he lacks intensity and pace, but Belotti is finally reaching a physical level that can make him a useful player for us.

“Now the big problem starts with the Europa League, trying to play three games per week.”

On the referee, the

Roma

boss said:

“I spoke to Aureliano and I will tell you what I told him. It was a difficult match for Lecce, for Roma and for the goalkeeper. It was very fast-paced, aggressive, lots of tackles, everyone going for the second ball. It was not easy for the referee.

“Looking back, Strefezza certainly should’ve had a second yellow card and it could’ve changed the game, but if you don’t ask me this question, I do not talk about the referee.

“He let it run and this too is beauty in football, not just the marvelous skills, but joy in rough matches with two teams battling it out, the smaller side giving everything for the point, the bigger club pushing hard to win. I liked it.”

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