The Portuguese midfielder made his debut as a starter in Italy and also marked his debut, when Mourinho’s Roma achieved their first victory of the season against Empoli (7-0). Dybala scored two goals.
Roma entered the fourth round of Serie A without a victory, adding two defeats against Hellas Verona and AC Milan and a draw with Salernitana, and was sunk in penultimate place in the Italian league. Near the Olympic Stadium, at the beginning of José Mourinho’s third year at the club, The alarm bells were beginning to sound about the curse of the Portuguese coach’s third seasons.
In his first spell at Chelsea, Mourinho left the club by mutual agreement in September 2007, at the start of his third consecutive season at the club. blues. At Real Madrid, Mourinho left the club in May 2013, at the end of his third consecutive season in You meringues. At Manchester United, Mourinho left the club in December 2018, halfway through his third consecutive season at the club. Red Devils. These three years have in common the absence of sporting successes and continuous and recurring disagreements. with the leaders of Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester United.
Mourinho returned, but the wind has not changed: Roma lose to AC Milan and have yet to win this season
Still, and even with the defeat in last season’s Conference League final and the terrible start to the season, José Mourinho still has defenders in the Roma universe, including one as important as Francesco Totti. “We talk a lot among ourselves. For me he is number one as a coach. Criticize him when he has already won more than 20 titles? So let’s imagine the others who earned less. Disputing it seems like heresy to me. To win you need players, that is the basis, but you also need a great coach to encourage and help them,” said the former Italian player in an interview with Corriere dello Sport.
It was in this context that Roma received Empoli this Sunday, the only team that was worse than the giallorossi, no points won in three rounds. Mourinho launched Cristante, Paredes and Renato Sanches in midfield, with Dybala and Lukaku in attack. and left El Shaarawy, Belotti and Zalewski on the bench. On the other hand, Paolo Zanetti also had former Benfica Ebuehi as a substitute.
Roma opened the scoring in the first moments, with Dybala converting a penalty (2′) after Walukiewicz intercepted a Kristensen cross with his hand inside the Empoli penalty area. Renato Sanches increased the lead in the first 10 minutes, debuting in Italy with an accurate header in the area (8′), and the third goal came just before the break and in Alberto Grassi’s own goal (35′).
Both coaches made changes at half-time: Mourinho replaced Renato Sanches, Bove and Zanetti introduced Bastoni and Ismajli, and Dybala scored the victory before the hour mark in a play in which he pushed aside an opponent and fired a cross into the goalkeeper’s face (55′). In the last quarter of an hour, Cristante (79′), Lukaku (82′) and Mancini (86′) still had time to improve the result and give the Olympic team its first great joy of the season.
The result did not change again until the end and Roma ended up achieving their first victory of the season with a great victory against Empoli. ensuring a real boost of oxygen before the visit to the Sheriff at the start of the group stage of the Europa League.
Source: Observadora
