On Monday, December 13th, 2021 Roma helped alleviate some of the ever – mounting pressure on Roma’s head coach, José Mourinho, as they defeated Spezia with a final tally of 2 to 0. Spezia has been battling relegation in Serie A lately.
Chris Smalling as well as Roger Ibañez both scored goals during separate halves of the game for Roma, which just so happened to move into the 6 – spot in the Serie A League. Although they are still 8 – points beneath the 4th – placed Napoli as well as the last of the 16 – Champions League qualifying spots. Spezia stays only 2 – points in front of the bottom three football clubs.
Mourinho has recently been feeling the surmounting pressure at Roma due to only 2 – wins throughout his past 6 – Italian league contest. That includes a devastating 3 to 0 loss at their home stadium to their rival Inter Milan during their time out on the pitch.
Mourinho’s side began the match by getting off to a near perfect start when a corner – kick was floated in from of the right side and Tammy Abraham passed it on ahead for Smalling to drill in a header giving Roma a 1 to 0 lead in just the 6th – minute of this match.
Abraham was close to doubling his side’s advantage during the 1st – half stoppage time, but Abraham managed to head the football into the cross – bar of the goal as he was ultimately denied of the score. This marked the 5th – occurrence that he has hit the goal post during shots over the course of this season.
Roma eventually got their 2nd – goal just 11 – minutes following the half – time break and it came via another corner – kick, which Roger Ibañez freely headed in to the back of the net on the goal. The only negative spot of this game for Roma came as the teenage forward Felix Afena – Gyan was sent off during the 2nd – stoppage time period following him receiving his second yellow – card for an unnecessary handball that inevitably ended up being a goal that was eventually disallowed by the officials of this match.
Mourinho manages to secure a huge win for his football club, and Jose seems to quiet the critics as well as eliminate some of the pressure surrounding the hot – seat that he remains to sit on as he coaches in the highly – competitive Serie A League of Italian football.
Sources:
The Associated Press News Services. “Roma beats Spezia 2-0 to relieve pressure on Mourinho”. The Associated Press. December 12, 2021.