Romelu Lukaku was shown a straight red card after a horror tackle in Roma’s feisty 1-1 draw with Fiorentina that saw Jose Mourinho refuse to speak to the media after the encounter.
Lukaku had opened the scoring after five minutes with a precise diving header from close range, courtesy of Paulo Dybala’s perfectly placed cross.
In the 64th minute, midfielder Zalewski received his second yellow card and was sent off, only for Fiorentina to equalise two minutes later when Lucas Martinez Quarta headed in a cross.
Three minutes before time, Lukaku flew into a sliding tackle on Fiorentina’s Christian Kouame and was shown a direct red card.
The Belgium striker’s follow-through ripped the sock of Kouame and his dismissal saw Mourinho’s team having to close the game out with only nine men.
Romelu Lukaku challenges Fiorentina’s Christian Kouame during 1-1 draw on Sunday
The striker was shown a straight red card as Roma were reduced to nine men in the game
Lukaku had begun the evening by opening the scoring before Fiorentina’s equaliser
Roma did manage to hold on for a point, but in a chaotic night also lost Dybala and Sardar Azmoun to injuries as well as the two red cards for Lukaku and Zalewski.
The decisions was one of a number of calls that Mourinho was unhappy with throughout the game and shared his displeasure with the officials at the final whistle.
The Portuguese boss then left without making any statements to the media as Mourinho and the Roma players refused to talk to anyone after the match.
Instead, Mourinho just walked through the media zone, saluted Fiorentina coach Vincenzo Italiano and then walked away without speaking to any outlet.
? Lukaku is shown a straight red card
? Roma are down to nine men
? Mourinho is kicking off
It’s ????? at the end of Roma vs Fiorentina ? pic.twitter.com/3RKx1ukz2c
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Jose Mourinho was unhappy at the end of the game and refused to talk to the media
The result sees Roma in fourth place in Serie A with 25 points, trailing AC Milan in third by four points and the league leaders, Inter Milan, by 13.
Fiorentina were also reduced to ten men in stoppage time, as Nikola Milenkovic became the third player to be shown his marching orders during the clash, but boss Italiano was happy with his side’s second half performance.
Telling DAZN: ‘They were only down to nine for a few minutes. Our whole second half was extraordinary, we tried in every way to get it back on track after taking the wrong initial approach, which Roma made the most of.’
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