Fresh legs won the game, apologies to Salernitana - Roma boss Mourinho

were trailing

for more than an hour as the rock bottom side found the back of the net through

Ivan Radovanovic

in the 22nd minute. It was not until the 81st minute when the leveled the game courtesy of Carles Perez’s goal. Soon after Chris Smalling netted another one, giving his side the lead.

Roma’s two penalty appeals in the first period created a tension as one of them did not warrant a VAR review and the other one was revoked since the initial contact was not inside the box.

“

The team was tired, it’s not easy playing Thursday and then Sunday, especially away from home with the long journey. Gasperini will feel the same way about Atalanta,”

Jose Mourinho

told

DAZN

.

“It was only after I made substitutions we had some fresh legs and energy to turn it around. Salernitana gave everything they had, it was difficult for them to sustain that intensity for 90 minutes.

“In the end, I think we deserved it, because we tried to win the game right to the end, but Salernitana made it a very difficult match for us.”

The Special One apologized to the opposition coach, Davide Nicola, following the tense scenes, with a controversial incident involving a clash among Roma staff members and Bodo/Glimt.

“They are right that what happened towards the end was not right. I apologise as the one responsible for my staff that a few excessive words were said.”

Roma need another comeback next Thursday for the Conference League quarter-final, having lost the first leg 2-1 to Bodo/Glimt.

“The players need to feel even more responsibility for our fans, because they are truly fantastic. We haven’t won the Scudetto, so it’s incredible to know the stadium will again be packed out on Thursday.

“I loved the support that the fans had for us, but was also impressed with the 6,000 Salernitana fans who travelled here to cheer on their team in a difficult situation. That was fantastic too.”

Since the substitutes made the difference in the result of the game, the coach was quizzed whether he considered rotating the squad more for the starting line-up.

“We coaches think long and hard before making decisions. If you change too much, things go bad and we feel guilty for doing that. We need to decide at the end, having five substitutions is definitely helpful for coaches.

“I am very happy for Carles Perez, as he works hard, sometimes he has not been used due to the tactical system, but the goal he scored changed the game and gave us a whole other mentality going into the final minutes.”

Nicolo Zaniolo

came after the break and had two close opportunities.

“I am disappointed for him, because he did really well in changing the dynamics of the game, he had the opportunity to score two goals and I think one of them the goalkeeper got a fingertip to it, an incredible save. He did really well, I was happy.

“Veretout also brought quality after two weeks being stuck at home unable to train. I think this was a victory of the lads who were on the bench.”

The tactician was pressed whether his side can get to

in the fourth place.

“No, because Juve are too strong to drop that many points. It’s a fight between fifth and eighth, some thought perhaps Lazio would crumble after the derby, but no they’ve won two in a row, albeit with some fortunate refereeing decisions.

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