Jose Mourinho's Roma keep Champions League hopes alive after VAR controversy

Roma left it very late to leapfrog rivals Lazio ahead of the derby, missing big chances against the 10 men of Verona only for teenager Cristian Volpato to save their blushes late on.

After Maurizio Sarri's Lazio were beaten by Salernitana on Sunday, Jose Mourinho 's Giallorossi knew they would climb into the top four with a victory. Opponents Verona were coming off the back of six straight Serie A defeats, but took a surprise lead through Pawel Dawidowicz's first-half goal.

It looked as though the visitors might be made to pay for their wasteful finishing, with last season's top scorer Tammy Abraham particularly culpable. However, after a VAR check brought a straight red card for Dawidowicz, Roma were handed a way back into the game - though they were made to wait until the final few minutes to claim victory as Vopato and Stephan El Shaarawy broke the hosts' resistance

Earlier in October, Roma general manager Tiago Pinto had opened up to Mirror Football about how the former Porto boss is seen in Roma. "It was a big achievement for the club to convince Mourinho to accept Roma's offer," the Portuguese said.

"He fully embraced the values of the club and the city and he is the best ambassador of AS Roma in the world today. When a coach reaches that level of empathy with the city and the fans, it means you did a good job."

After finishing sixth in Serie A in Mourinho's first season, Roma climbed to second after four games of the current campaign. They had been unable to keep up their fast start, though, with Udinese, Atalanta and Napoli all beating the team from the capital before their trip to Verona.

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England striker Abraham missed a golden chance at 0-0, taking the ball around goalkeeper Lorenzo Montipo but failing to find the empty net. The former Chelsea man then missed a close-range header, and it looked as though he might be made to pay as Dawidowicz deflected the ball beyond Rui Patricio.

A VAR check didn't bring any respite for Roma over the goal, but it did help them a few minutes later after the cameras spotted a dangerous high challenge from Dawidowicz on Nicolo Zaniolo. And it was Zaniolo himself who equalised in first-half stoppage time, tapping in after an Abraham effort came back off the post.

Mourinho threw on El Shaarawy at the start of the second half as the away side looked to make the most of their man advantage. Goalscorer Zaniolo also made way before the hour mark, with summer signing Andrea Belotti thrown into the mix along with Volpato.

Belotti had chances to put his team in front, while fellow substitute Nemanja Matic headed against the bar. At the other end, though, Verona saw appeals waved away when a rare counter-attack saw Kevin Lasagna go down on the corner of the Roma box.

Eventually, though, the winner came from the most unlikely of sources. 18-year-old Volpato had only scored one Serie A goal before - also against the Gialloblum back in February - but his shot from the edge of the box found a way past Montipo.

Volpato also had a part to play in the stoppage time clincher, feeding El Shaarawy for the Italy international to calmly lift the ball over the advancing keeper and find the net.

While many fans will be focusing on the derby, Roma have another big game before then. Mourinho's team round off their Europa League group stage campaign against Ludogorets on Thursday, and only a win will be enough to see them through to the knockout stages.

Mourinho has got the better of the Bulgarian side before, with home and away wins for his Tottenham side in the 2020-21 edition of the competition. Two late goals handed Ludogorets victory in the group opener, though, and the teams are locked together on seven points going into the decider.

Three points in that game would be a boost ahead of a Lazio clash which comes with both sides in top four contention. Sarri's side will be without suspended star Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, while Roma will be sweating on Zaniolo after he appeared to be in discomfort before making way in Verona.

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