JOSE MOURINHO has threatened to “take legal action” against the fourth official after he was sent-off last night.
The Roma boss saw red for the third time this season as Cremonese sneaked their first Serie A win for 27 years.
EPAJose Mourinho was sent-off for the third time this season last night[/caption]
EPAThe Roma boss has threatened to take legal action against the fourth official[/caption]
Viewers accused the bawling Roma boss of swearing at match officials in English when he was sent off early in the second period
Ex-Manchester United and Chelsea manager Mourinho went following a row with the fourth official as Cremonese led through Frank Tsadjout’s brilliant top-corner opener on 17 minutes.
Italy left-back Leonardo Spinazzola fired Roma level from Gianluca Mancini’s long pass as Mourinho watched from the stands.
But Tsadjout’s strike-partner Daniel Ciofani fired an 83rd-minute penalty winner – following a foul by keeper Rui Patricio – to lift the home side over Sampdoria at the bottom.
After the fiery clash, Mourinho was still raging, particularly with fourth official Marco Serra.
And now he could land himself in further hot water as he blasted the appointment of the official from Turin for the game ahead of Roma’s clash with Juventus at the weekend.
The Portuguese coach said: “I am emotional, but not crazy. In order to react the way I did, something had to happen first.
“I need to understand if I can take any legal action. Piccinini gave me a red card, because unfortunately the fourth official does not have the capacity to understand what he said to me.
“I want to find out if there is an audio recording. I don’t want to get into the fact that Serra is from Turin and on Sunday we are playing against Juventus.”
Mourinho continued: “For the first time in my career, a fourth official spoke to me in the most incredible way. It was unjustifiable.
“At the end of the game, I went to speak to them. Piccinini, who was the fourth official in the last game when I was sent off, told me to apologise to Serra.
“I told Serra he should have the courage to explain what happened, but he had memory problems.”
When pressed to reveal what Serra had said, Mourinho refused, saying: “I prefer for everything to be done in public.”
Victory over a Cremonese, who had also dumped them out of the Italian Cup, would have put Roma back in the four Champions League spots.
As for Cremonese, they joyfully celebrated their first Serie A triumph since March 1996.
They returned to the top-flight this season as Serie B runners-up.
But promotion-winning boss Fabio Pecchia quit for Parma in the summer, with former Lazio and Genoa chief Davide Ballardini replacing him but struggling since.