Mourinho claims Roma were unlucky in 4-0 loss, calls referee 'perfect' for Udinese

Jose Mourinho claimed Roma were unlucky in their 4-0 loss to Udinese, insisted Paulo Dybala was the best player on the pitch and called the referee Fabio Maresca of "perfect" for the style of play of the hosts.

Goals from Destiny Udogie, Lazar Samardzic, Roberto Pereyra and Sandi Lovric condemned Roma to their first defeat of the campaign on Sunday as Mourinho suffered his heaviest defeat in a Serie A game.

Indeed, only once in his coaching career has Mourinho suffered a more complete defeat in a domestic league game, losing 5-0 to Pep Guardiola's huge Barcelona side when he was in charge of Real Madrid in 2010.

Despite the heavy margin of defeat, Roma enjoyed a higher share of possession (56.9%) and registered more shots (12-11) than the hosts, and Mourinho believes defensive errors are expensive for the Giallorossi.

"Today we were unlucky, we gave away two goals that decided the game," he said.

"I say bad luck because at the beginning we were going strong with the opportunity created by Dybala, who for me was the best player on the pitch.

"It's clear that after losing 4-0, someone can laugh, but he gave quality, he had character.

"I told the players that when Udinese go forward they are good at everything. They are good at defending, managing the timing of the game, going on the counterattack, even educating ball boys. We don't have that last quality.

"A perfect match for them, a well-deserved victory, it's tough for us but I'd rather have a 4-0 defeat than four 1-0 defeats."

Mourinho was furious at the decision to deny Roma a penalty when Zeki Celik was bundled up in the box with the score at 1-0, but said blaming the officials for the loss would be 'ridiculous'.

However, the former Chelsea and Manchester United boss couldn't resist a dig at Maresca, saying his officiating style suited the more physical hosts.

"When you lose 4-0, it's ridiculous to talk about the referee," Mourinho said.

"I think it wouldn't even be fair to say that we lost to the referee, we paid for the mistakes we made.

"I don't hide from you that when it's a physical match like this and the first yellow card goes to the artist of the match [Dybala], it's a bit contradictory.

"My principle is always the same, before the matches I never talk about the referees, after the match I can say that with him, you feel bad.

"But when we saw who he was, we realized he had a perfect feeling with Udinese, for the way they play.

"But we didn't lose to the referee, he didn't play a disastrous game, he played a game at his level."

Mourinho was unhappy with the criticism of his decision to put captain Lorenzo Pellegrini in a more advanced role than usual, saying: "We've played with Pellegrini in this position before. I was a commentator for a some time in England, how easy it is.

"When you sit on a bench, everything becomes more difficult."