In the early morning of January 10, Beijing time, the 21st round of this season's Serie A ended a focus battle, Roma home against Juventus. In the end, Roma led 3-1, was reversed by Juventus 4-3, suffered two consecutive defeats, and fell behind the top four nine points in one round of the game, completely falling behind in the fourth round.
It's a six-point battle for four, with Juventus currently in fifth place with 35 points in 20 rounds, and Roma in seventh with 32 points in 20 rounds, with a gap of three and six points from the top four, respectively.
The last round of away defeat to Milan, which put Roma from sixth to seventh, and now the key game against Juve can not afford to lose, manager Mourinho is well aware of the team's situation of the fourth place. In their last two home games against Juventus, Roma have drawn 1 and lost 1, with their last win coming in May 2019, when they narrowly won 2-1.
In the 11th minute, Tammy Abraham's header in front of goal was successful to help Roma take a 1-0 lead. In the 18th minute, Dybala's shot from the top of the arc in the penalty area helped Juve equalize 1-1. At the end of the first half, the score was 1-1 draw, and the two teams attacked and defended each other, and neither took advantage.
In the second half, the situation suddenly changed, and in the 47th minute, Mkhitaryan's long-range shot hit Desilio and crossed the line into the net, and Roma won 2-1. In the 53rd minute, Pellegrini scored with a direct free-kick to help Roma extend the score 3-1.
The 2-goal lead made roma think that the whole team basically won the game, but they did not expect that Juve scored 3 in 7 minutes, directly making Mourinho look blue.
In the 69th minute, Locateli's header broke the net. In the 73rd minute, Kulusevsky scored. In the 76th minute, Smalling made a mistake and Desilio swept the goal to help Juve achieve a 4-3 comeback.
Roma won a penalty in the 81st minute and played one more, Pellegrini's penalty was saved by Szczesni, and Roma was greatly reversed by Juventus in a 3-4 score.
The 3-4 defeat brought manager Jose Mourinho to 502 official home games in his coaching career, suffering the second time he conceded at least four goals in a single game, in addition to a draw with Sampdoria, as well as consecutive losses to Milan and Juve, which was the first time Mourinho had suffered three consecutive Serie A winless games since he took charge of Roma.
What makes Mourinho even more desperate is that Roma have accumulated 32 points in 21 rounds, and they are nine points behind fourth-placed Atalanta in one more round, and the competition for four is basically hopeless.