Osimhen sent off in Napoli’s loss to Roma, gets a kiss from Mourinho

Napoli’s Nigerian forward Victor Osimhen was sent off as nine-man Napoli crashed to a 2-0 defeat away to Roma on Saturday in the Serie A.

It summed up Napoli’s miserable week that also saw them lose 4-0 to Frosinone in the Copa Italia.

The Nigerian got his marching orders for a second bookable offence after charging down Diego Llorente with his side trailing a goal down.

Teammate, Matteo Politano had earlier been sent off for kicking out at Nicola Zalewski for tugging his shirt.

Lukaku sealed the win deep in stoppage time by finishing off a counter-attack.

Things got heated on the touchline when Roma coach Jose Mourinho first demanded ‘respect’ from Kvicha Kvaratskhelia and Osimhen, then gave the Napoli strikers an intense talking to.

It was still goalless going into the break at the Stadio Olimpico after a fiery 45 minutes with both Mourinho and Napoli boss Walter Mazzarri picking up yellow cards for dissent.

Mou was booked moments after Bryan Cristante received a card for a challenge on Kvaratskhelia right next to the Roma bench.

The Special One was spotted shouting at Kvaratskhelia, saying “Enough! Enough! Respect!”

They continued to argue animatedly, until Mourinho put both hands around Kvara’s face and started talking intensely, giving the Georgia international advice.

Soon after, Mourinho had a similar discussion with Osimhen, giving the Nigerian a kiss on the cheek at the end of their encounter.

Osimhen had penalty appeals when he was accidentally caught in the face by a Leandro Paredes arm following a clearance.

Mourinho later explained why he was convinced Roma would beat Napoli even before the two red cards and admits he was ‘perhaps a little harsh’ on his players in training.

“Unfortunately, the last game before Christmas changes the mood of players and coaches. I talked to the lads about this, we needed to make it a happy Christmas for the fans too,” Mourinho told DAZN.

“We were able to stay close to where we wanted to be, it was very difficult, you might not agree, but my feeling was after five minutes that we would win. Roma played very well XI against XI, had two incredible chances early on, and were always in control of the match against a team that has far more quality than us.

“Obviously, against 10 men we scored the goal and made the most of the situation, also with our changes and the way our players interpreted the game. I think we fully deserved it.”

Edoardo Bove impressed in midfield and hit the woodwork as well as forcing a desperate Alex Meret save, so Mourinho was asked if the youth product brings the necessary intensity and aggression to cover for Bryan Cristante and Leandro Paredes.

“Today we tried to keep a high press and to do that, we need those two along with Bove, as Edoardo bites ankles, breaks forward, and forces Lobotka to go deeper. He is not that fast, but has remarkable stamina.”

With Paulo Dybala injured, Roma made the rare choice of starting Andrea Belotti with Lukaku.

“We decided to play with Gallo and Lukaku to have more physicality, a more direct approach in attack to the two Napoli center-backs.

“When we were against 10, then creativity came on with Pellegrini and El Shaarawy, knowing we needed their technique in that situation.”

Mourinho had praise for his defenders after last week’s 2-0 defeat to Bologna and a slight apology too.

“After a tough week of training and a coach who was perhaps too harsh on them, I found players who were more prepared for the battle. Ndicka won more duels, Llorente had so much trouble against Zirkzee and yet today with Osimhen he won many individual duels. Gianluca Mancini did not train all week, he is in pain, but he did it for the team. He is a champion.”

Roma go into Christmas in sixth place, three points adrift of Bologna in fourth, having leapfrogged Napoli in the standings.