Romelu Lukaku shown straight red card as 9-man Roma draw with Fiorentina | OneFootball

Roma striker Romelu Lukaku received a straight red card in his side’s Serie A encounter with Fiorentina, which left the home side down to nine men as it finished 1-1 at the Stadio Olimpico. The Belgian marksman, who is on loan from Chelsea, opened the scoring five minutes in after latching on the end of Paolo Dybala’s cross. Thanks to being one goal up, the home side were in cruise control until Nicola Zalewski picked up his second yellow of the affair.

Zalewski, 21, produced two bad fouls and José Mourinho’s side were reduced to ten men with 25 minutes of normal time remaining. The fixture’s fortunes then flipped on their head as La Viola took advantage of the extra man, with Lucas Martinez Quarta levelling proceedings three minutes after the sending off.

With tensions continuing to rise and begin to trickle over, Lukaku had a moment of madness as things turned from bad to worse, with him lunging in and receiving Roma’s second red card of the contest. But luckily for Mourinho and his men, being down to ten men had no further detrimental effects on the final outcome. In the very final embers of their head-to-head, Fiorentina’s roster let the occasion get the better of them, too, with unused substitute Nikola Milenkovic also receiving his marching orders.

The challenge preceded ensuing chaos

With the score tied at 1-1, both sides were eager to nick one at the death – as shown by Lukaku’s run towards Christian Kouame, who looked to be in a threatening position just before the 86-minute mark. Kouame, who had assisted Quarta’s leveller with an inch-perfect set-piece, received the ball on the left of the pitch and looked poised to play in Riccardo Sottil, who was marauding into the Roma box.

But not on Lukaku’s watch. Instead, the former Manchester United centre forward opted to lunge in aimlessly, while Kouame looked to shift inside and leave Roma’s No.90 in the dust. Referee Antonio Rapuano had no problem sending the forward off with just four minutes of normal play left on the clock.

Lukaku, joined by teammate Leandro Paredes, attempted to plead his innocence – but they largely fell on deaf ears as the side from the Italian capital worked out how to fare with two fewer figures on the pitch.

José Mourinho fuming with decision to send Lukaku off

The Roma boss produced another vintage Mourinho moment

It wouldn’t be a moment of madness without Mourinho involved, would it? The former Real Madrid boss, who is known for his pitchside antics, responded in vintage Mourinho fashion. With a sarcastic laugh, the 60-year-old was very animated following Rapuano’s decision to send Lukaku for an early bath and even gave the ball boy a note to hand over to Roma goalkeeper Rui Patricio.

According to reports from Italy, Mourinho and the entire Roma squad refused to attend their media duties following their 1-1 draw with Fiorentina. Despite the club not calling it an official 'press silence', DAZN have made note of Mourinho's post-match antics in which he walked straight past the media zone, saluting Fiorentina head coach Vincenzo Italiano.

After seven minutes of extensive stoppage time, the visitors were unable to make the most of their numerical advantage. With both sides taking home one point apiece, Roma are currently sitting in fourth place on 25 points, while Fiorentina are just outside the European places (in 7th) on 24 points. There is little to separate the pair, in terms of domestic standings, and that can be an attribute to tensions over spilling at the death.