At 1:00 Beijing time on January 17, the 22nd round of Serie A, Roma played against Cagliari at home. In the first half, Zaniolo made a penalty, but was changed by VAR, and then Sergio Oliveira made another point with a long-range shot and scored himself. In the second half, Affina Gian missed a single knife and was yellowed, Velletu's close-range push was saved, João Pedro hit the crossbar with a draw, and Roma beat Cagliari 1-0 to end a two-game series of defeats in Serie A.
Before the game, Lorenzo Pellegrini suddenly felt unwell, Mourinho was forced to temporarily change the lineup, and France international Velletu entered the starting line.
According to Italian media, the Roma captain is most likely a recurrence of old injuries, which is really bad news for Mourinho.
In the 3rd minute, Sergio Oliveira sent a straight kick, Zaniolo fell to the ground under Caboni's defense, and the referee awarded a penalty. However, when the referee watched the VAR replay, it was revealed that Carboni touched the ball first, so the decision was changed.
In the 32nd minute, Mkhitaryan split the ball forward, Sergio Oliveira decisively kicked up and hit Dalbert's outstretched arm, and the referee watched VAR and awarded a penalty and gave Dalbert a yellow card. A minute later, Sergio Oliveira scored the first goal of his career for Roma.
Just two days earlier, Sergio Oliveira had joined Roma on loan and his debut was a testament to Mourinho's vision. On the sidelines, Mourinho clenched his fists in celebration.
In the 58th minute, Tammy Abraham's long pass instigated a counterattack, but unfortunately the youngster Affina Gian wasted a single knife and was yellowed first because of the collision.
In the 65th minute, Mkhitaryan counter-attacked and the ball was scored by the follow-up Welletu, who was once again saved. Roma were slow to kill the game and Mourinho was disappointed.
In the 85th minute, João Pedro pushed in front of goal, Patricio pounced, then hit the crossbar to pop up, and Roma almost suffered a draw.
However, Roma still relied on Sergio Oliveira's goal, 1-0 Likari Cagliari, Mourinho led the team to double the opponent. In addition, Roma also ended the embarrassment of 2 consecutive defeats and 3 rounds of unwinned series in Serie A, finally winning their first victory in 2022, while Cagliari's 2-game winning streak was ended.
After this campaign, Roma tied the city's sworn enemy Lazio with 35 points, and relied on a goal difference advantage to temporarily overtake the opponent and return to the 6th position in the table. However, Mourinho's team is still 6 points away from the top four Atalanta, and there are more than 2 rounds, and the situation of competing for the fourth place is still not optimistic.