Dubai: Roma’s new coach Jose Mourinho was shown the red card in yesterday’s 5-2 pre-season friendly defeat against Real Betis - but he wasn’t the only one seeing red as three of his players were also sent off.
Betis went 3-2 up in the second half but the Roma coach and his players argued that Alex Moreno had handled the ball over the line.
During the heated exchanges midfielder Lorenzo Pellegrini received a second yellow card, while Mourinho was also sent off for protesting.
Gianluca Mancini and Rick Karsdorp were also given their marching orders in the closing stages as Betis scored twice more to seal the win.
Several red cards
Roma had come from behind two times with new Uzbek signing Eldor Shomurodov cancelling out Rodri’s opener before Mancini made it 2-2 on 50 minutes after a Nabil Fekir strike.
But then after Moreno’s goal there was chaos with several red cards being shown, the highlight being Mourinho’s. The former Chelsea, Man Utd and Tottenham boss took charge of the Italians just two months ago and is known for losing his temper.
Betis begin their La Liga campaign away to Mallorca next Saturday, 14 August while Roma begin their Serie A season against Fiorentina on 22 August.
