Mourinho taunts propelled Lazio to derby success, says Romagnoli

José Mourinho's taunts over Lazio's European shortcomings inflamed the Biancocelesti ahead of Sunday's derby win over Roma, defender Alessio Romagnoli says.

Mattia Zaccagni scored the only goal in a fractious encounter between clubs in the Italian capital, with Roma reduced to 10 men after Roger Ibanez picked up two cards in the first 32 minutes.

Tempers also flared at full time as Bryan Cristante and Adam Marusic were shown red cards, while the win saw Lazio move five points clear of Roma in the battle for a spot among the top four in Serie A.

Ahead of the match, Mourinho mocked the Lazio Europa Conference League exit against AZ Alkmaar in a rant about teams entering lower-level European competitions, saying: " They won't have a third competition to play."

Speaking after Lazio netted their first Serie A double against Roma since 2011-12, former Giallorossi player Romagnoli couldn't resist returning a jibe to Mourinho.

"We were already very energized before this game, his quotes made us even more excited," he said. "There will be no third derby for them."

The result makes Mourinho - who served his last game a two-match sideline ban - the first Roma boss to lose back-to-back Serie A meetings with Lazio since Luis Enrique in 2011 and 2012.

Mourinho's counterpart Maurizio Sarri was less aggressive, telling reporters: "Let Mourinho do it, he's like that.

"I often love him. He has nothing to say to him. We won the derby, we are very happy and we don't want to create controversy.

"The red card helped us, but the data shows that we had the game in hand before that. I played in all the most important stadiums in the world and I always slept the day before, yesterday I I had a hard time.

"It's a unique emotion, I'm happy for the fans. Today the stadium was a show. I'm happy with the points but more for the fans."

Asked about the impact of Mourinho's absence on the touchline on the game, Sarri replied: "We [the coaches] are more important before the game than during. You find yourself among 70,000 people who shout, and the only one who hears you is the one who passes."

There have been 38 red cards in 58 Roma derbies in the three-point era for a Serie A win (since 1994-95) - more than in any other game in the competition during that period .

Although the teams share a home at the Stadio Olimpico, Lazio are now unbeaten in their last six 'home' games against Roma (W4 D2), winning each of the last six derbies in which Roma have seen one player expelled.< /p>