Jose Mourinho got one over old club Tottenham Hotspur as his Roma side came out on top 1-0 in their club friendly in Haifa, Israel.
In a match that was played in challenging hot temperature, Mou’s Roma were able to shut down Spurs’ red-hot duo of Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min, who came into the match in sizzling form. It was also a mixed night for some of Spurs’ new signings.
Meanwhile, Paulo Dybala made a successful debut for Roma as he set up the Giallorossi’s winning goal from a corner.
Read on as SBOTOP shares three key takeaways from this Spurs-Roma friendly.
Mourinho gets one over on Conte with classic defensive display
While this was a club friendly, there is clearly no love lost between the opposing coaches, Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte, who have had their squabbles over the years.
But despite Spurs coming into the match in fine form, it was Mourinho who got the better of this duel with Conte as his Roma side defied the club friendly 2022 betting odds and pulled out the win thanks to a classic defensive display.
Mou’s Giallorossi not only held Spurs scoreless for the first time in four pre-season games, but they also kept their opponents without a single shot on target. They pressed impressively in midfield and prevented Spurs from finding their groove.
Aside from adding depth pieces in right-back Zeki Celik and veteran defensive midfielder Nemanja Matic, Roma have more or less the same defensive personnel that they had last season.
Mourinho has experimented with different back-three combinations in pre-season, but Gianluca Mancini, Chris Smalling, and Ibanez look to be the preferred starters. Meanwhile, Rick Karsdorp and Nicola Zalewski appear to be the first-choice wing-backs, although Leonardo Spinazzola will be keen to regain his place after recovering from his Achilles injury.
And after this fine performance against Spurs, they should be optimistic that they will see a lot of internal improvement in their second full season playing in Mourinho’s system.
Two Spurs newcomers impress, but one struggles
Tottenham’s pre-season campaign came to disappointing end as they suffered their first defeat in four games. Antonio Conte started his likely first-choice front three of Kane, Son, and Dejan Kulusevski, but they were kept silent by Roma as Spurs were unable to get a single shot on target.
On the bright side for Spurs, two of their new signings in Ivan Perisic and Clement Lenglet looked good.
Despite the difficult conditions, the 33-year-old Perisic looked tireless in marauding down the left flank as he got the start at wing-back. Meanwhile, Lenglet looked quite assured in possession and impressed with his passing after coming on for centre-back Davinson Sanchez at half-time.
However, Spurs’ other key summer signing – Yves Bissouma – had a rough outing in his first start for his new club. The former Brighton midfielder struggled to cope with Roma’s press and ceded possession a few times.
Granted, Bissouma is just coming off a bout of Covid and missed some valuable time on the practice field during pre-season, so he should still be given some time to integrate into Conte’s system.
Nevertheless, it looks quite clear that Rodrigo Bentancur will return to partner Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in midfield for Spurs’ opening Premier League match against Southampton. And after their impressive displays in Israel, Lenglet and Perisic might have also pencilled themselves in for starting spots against Saints.
More to come from Dybala after decent debut
Speaking of new signings, Roma’s marquee summer acquisition – Paulo Dybala – made his official debut in this club friendly, and it turned out to be a successful one. It was his corner kick which led to the only goal of the game from defender Roger Ibanez.
Aside from his assist, Dybala also added a few more club friendly 2022 highlights with two shots (one on target) in his first hour on the pitch for his new club.
Dybala got the start alongside Nicolo Zaniolo as the two supported centre-forward Tammy Abraham. That front three has the potential to be a tremendous attacking trio for Roma, although it remains to be seen whether Zaniolo will stay amid his links with Tottenham.
But even if Zaniolo leaves, Roma already have a capable playmaker in Dybala, who has the potential to thrive as the focal point of the Giallorossi attack.
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