Raging Mourinho sent off as Roma lose to Atalanta

Jose Mourinho was sent off in a fit of fury as his Roma side lost 1-0 at home to Atalanta in Serie A.

The head coach was seething after his side were denied a penalty in the 55th minute when Nicolo Zaniolo went over under a challenge from Caleb Okoli.

Replays suggested both players were grappling at each other’s shirt long before Zaniolo went to ground, and referee Daniele Chiffi waved away the appeals.

Mourinho joined his players in protesting against the decision, running onto the pitch and shouting and pointing at Chiffi, before the referee brandished the red card his way.

Giorgio Scalvini scored the game’s only goal in the 35th minute, a smart side-footed strike from the edge of the penalty area that arrowed through a crowd of players and found the bottom-right corner.

Roma have now lost two of their past three Serie A matches, as many defeats as they had suffered in the previous 21 (11W, 8D), and they sit sixth in the table after seven rounds of the season.

A tough one to take tonight.

Scalvini’s first-half strike proves decisive, despite our onslaught on the Atalanta goal.
#ASRoma #RomaAtalanta pic.twitter.com/w1SIhCvpLv

— AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN) September 18, 2022

Atalanta’s win took the visitors top of the table, at least temporarily ahead of Sunday’s late game between Napoli and Milan, both of whom had a chance to jump to the summit.

The victory lifted Atalanta to 17 points from their opening seven Serie A games, a points record for the club at this stage of the season, one better than they achieved in the 2019-20 campaign.

They have kept clean sheets in all four of their away games so far, with Sunday’s success following previous shutouts in wins at Sampdoria, Hellas Verona and Monza. Atalanta have only twice previously had four consecutive clean sheets in away games, in 1997 and 2016.