Mourinho hugs ball boy in Roma's victory

Italy coach Jose Mourinho ran to hug the ball boy after Stephan El Shaarawy scored the winning goal to give Roma a 3-1 victory over Udinese in Serie A's 13th round.

In the 90th minute, Romelu Lukaku received a long pass from his own half, shielded the ball well, waited for a teammate to run forward, and then passed it across to Edoardo Bove. He then passed it to the left for substitute El Shaarawy to run forward and curl a shot with his preferred right foot into the far corner, sealing the 3-1 victory.

On the touchline, Mourinho was ecstatic, jumping up and punching the air before running to hug the ball boy. In the post-match press conference, when asked about this excited reaction, he replied: "I celebrated because it was the goal that sealed the game. Then I relaxed and hugged a child near the bench. I wanted to hug the first person I saw, luckily it wasn't a policeman or anything."

Mourinho hugs the ball boy to celebrate the goal. — Mourinho hugged the ball boy to celebrate a goal after Roma beat Udinese 3-0 in Serie A's 13th round on November 26th.

Yesterday, Roma welcomed back several key players from injury, with only Chris Smalling, Marash Kumbulla, and Tammy Abraham missing. With a nearly full-strength squad, Roma dominated possession with 65%, 12 shots (five on target) – compared to Udinese's 6 and 2 respectively.

In the 20th minute, Dybala delivered a free-kick into the penalty area for center-back Gianluca Mancini to head home the opening goal. At the start of the second half, Florian Thauvin equalized with a header, but Roma still won on a day when their attacking stars shone.

In the 81st minute, Lukaku set up Dybala, who pushed the ball into the penalty area and curled a left-footed shot past goalkeeper Marco Silvestri. Since the 2004-2005 season, the Argentinian star has been involved in 18 goals against Udinese in Serie A, including 10 goals and eight assists. Only Francesco Totti has been involved in more goals against a single opponent in Serie A during the same period, with 20 goals against Parma.

According to Mourinho, Roma missed several opportunities to double their lead before Udinese equalized, but he was pleased with the team's subsequent efforts to secure the three points. "Our mistake was that we could have finished the game earlier, but instead we let Udinese take the lead," the Portuguese coach said. "But the whole team reacted well. I have players on the bench who can help the team."

Lukaku looks disappointed after missing a scoring opportunity. Photo: asroma.it — Lukaku looks disappointed after missing a scoring opportunity. Photo: *asroma.it*

The victory against Udinese lifted Roma to fifth place with 21 points, three points behind Napoli. However, Mourinho denied that Roma's pursuit of a Top 4 finish would be easier with the return of several key players from injury. "We are a club with many ups and downs; there are days when I am terribly surprised. I just want to say that if Renato Sanches and Chris Smalling return, we can give our all," he stated.

On November 30th, Roma will travel to Servette's stadium for the fifth matchday of Group G in the Europa League. Mourinho's team currently sits second with nine points, behind Slavia Prague on goal difference.

Starting lineup

Roma : Patricio, Llorente, Ndicka, Mancini, Pellegrini (Azmoun 63), Cristante, Paredes (Bove 77), Spinazzola (El Shaarawy 63), Karsdorp (Zalewski 77), Lukaku, Dybala (Kristensen 83).

Udinese : Silvestri, Bijol, Perez, Ferreira (Kabasele 79), Payero, Samardzic (Lovric 69), Walace , Zemura (Kamara 83), Ebosele, Success, Thauvin (Lucca 79).

Hong Duy

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