Former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho courted more controversy following a fiery derby between his AS Roma side and Lazio.
Mourinho's team fell to a 1-0 defeat away at their arch rivals. Roma were reduced to 10 men when Roger Ibanez received a straight red, 32 minutes in. Lazio had to wait until the second half to grab the winning goal though when Mattia Zaccagni scored.
Lazio's Adam Marusic and Roma's Bryan Cristante were then sent off in stoppage time as tensions boiled over. But, the real controversy was to come following the match when Mourinho and Lazio's president Claudio Lotito became involved in a confrontation.
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According to Gazzetta Dello Sport, Lazio's Alessio Romagnoli chose to celebrate in front of the away dressing room which caused anger among Mourinho and his players. Lotito reportedly tried to defuse the situation but Mourinho, who was serving a touchline ban but was allowed to enter the dressing room, turned on Lazio's president.
Not taking kindly to Mourinho's attack while playing peacemaker, Lotito is reported to have said: "I am the Lazio President. Who are you? "This is my home and you shouldn’t even be here."
Mourinho had stoked controversy in the build-up to the fiercely contested derby. In a pre-match press conference, the former United man said: "Obviously I’m not happy that a lot of my players from tonight have to play again on Sunday while Lazio are at home smoking a cigarette with [Mauricio] Sarri."
As is often the case with Mourinho, the off-field antics overshadowed what is going on on the pitch, and United will be happy they have a manager in Erik ten Hag who is more measured in his manner as he looks to build the club back to being a club regularly challenging for trophies.
Ex-Chelsea boss Sarri, now in charge of Lazio. is well known for his smoking habit which he did kick during his time in the Premier League. The defeat for Roma leaves them fifth while Lazio sit second.
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