In the early morning of December 14, Beijing time, the last match of the 17th round of Serie A, Roma hosted Spezia. In the end, the 90-minute battle was over, and Roma won the game 2-0. After scoring three points, Mourinho's team relied on goal difference advantage to overtake Juve and return to their European position.
This summer, Roma ushered in a change of coach, and Mourinho's arrival made the team attract much attention. At one point in the league, Roma rose to the top of the table, but were quickly squeezed out. As the season progressed, Roma kept losing points and losing in strong dialogues.
In last night's European draw, Rome was not among them. That's because Roma won the top spot in the group in the European Union and they don't have to play in the knockout play-offs of the round of 16. With the Europa League play-offs yet, Roma's top 16 opponent is still unknown. Compared to Italy, winning an UEFA title may be something more likely for Mourinho to do this season.
Before this game, Roma suffered two consecutive defeats in Serie A, and they scored three points to stop the decline in the league. Just five minutes into the game, Tammy Abraham's header sailed wide and Smalling grabbed the ball. It is worth mentioning that this is the first time in 17 years that an English player has assisted another English player in the Serie A record.
In the second half, Roma quickly extended their advantage, with a corner kick opportunity, Rogge Ibanez's header, and Mourinho's team had a two-goal advantage. In the ensuing time, Spezia scored a goal in a brawl, but was blown off for offside. In the 92nd minute of the final moments of the game, youngster Ji An was deliberately handballed off.
Although there were only 10 players left in the final moments, Roma won the match 2-0 as desired, facing Spezia led by his former disciple Motta, Mourinho defeated his opponent and won the master-apprentice battle, stopping his own decline. Roma, who scored three points, rose two places in a row in the standings to the current 6th place, squeezing Juve out of the European zone rankings.
Although ending the league losing streak, Roma will experience a very difficult schedule for the next month. First, in the next round, Roma will take on Atalanta away. In the next month, AC Milan and Juventus will take turns to challenge Roma. If Mourinho's team can't grab points in these strong dialogues, the team's ranking is likely to fall further.