Mayoral delighted to earn Mourinho praise

Borja Mayoral was on the scoresheet as Roma beat CSKA Sofia 3-2 on Thursday evening.

The Spaniard scored a fine goal either side of Tammy Abraham's brace - earning post-match praise from Jose Mourinho in the process, as the Giallorossi finished top of Group C.

Here's what Mayoral had to say after the game...

What does this performance mean to you?

“A nice goal, a good game ... fairly cold too! It means a lot. We put in a good performance, a professional performance, even if at the end we were struggling a little bit. But in the end we won and that's the main thing - especially as we also won the group."

Mourinho had a lot of praise for you in his post-match comments. Is that a boost for you?

“Yes, of course it is. You guys know me, I am always going to work hard - both for myself and for the team. I can contribute and I know what I have to do. Just like I did last season. I'm pleased with how the evening went."

Playing with two forwards could give you more chances going forward...

“Sure, there are four or five of us forwards. Now we are playing with two up top whereas before it was only one. It's better for me and I think better for us; I enjoyed playing with Tammy out there."

As for the game itself: the first half was good, the second half maybe less so?

“It was a very good first half display. In the second we made a few mistakes, but these things can happen. We need to keep on improving and pushing forward."

Cosa rappresenta per te questa serata?

“Bel gol, bella partita, bel freddo pure. Ne faceva troppo. Abbiamo fatto una bella partita, una partita seria, alla fine del match abbiamo faticato un po’, ma abbiamo vinto che era la cosa più importante. E abbiamo vinto pure il girone”.

Mourinho ti ha elogiato. È un orgoglio per te?

“Sì, certo. Mi conoscete già, sono uno che lavora tanto per se stesso e per la squadra. Posso giocare e fare quello che so fare. Come ho fatto l’anno scorso. Sono contento di questa serata”.

Giocando con le due punte, si può aprire qualche spiraglio in più?

“Certo, siamo 4/5 attaccanti. Ora giochiamo con due punte, prima con una sola. È molto meglio per me, per noi, mi sono trovato molto bene con Tammy”.

Sulla partita: molto bene il primo tempo, meno il secondo.

“Il primo tempo molto bene. Alla fine abbiamo sbagliato un po’, ma sono cose che possono succedere. Dobbiamo migliorare tutti e andare avanti”.