Roma coach Jose Mourinho was delighted with the goalscoring performance of Nicolo Zaniolo in their Europa Conference League playoff defeat of Trabzonspor.
Zaniolo scored his first goal in 400 days but Mourinho revealed he wanted to rest the Italy international.
“I wanted to give him two days of rest, he said no," Mourinho said. “I asked him if he needed some days of vacation, obviously he won't play on Sunday, and it wouldn't have been a problem for me to give him two days off.
“He told me that he wanted to stay with the team and that means something."
Tammy Abraham also impressed and Mourinho expects him to grow further.
“From a physical point of view he's not yet at the top," Mourinho said. “Everyone knows his qualities and his mentality, the last three minutes on the pitch, already in difficulty, he goes to defend, ends a defensive action as a full-back.
“I was sorry to not let Borja [Mayoral] play because he deserves it too. [Eldor] Shomurodov also gave a lot to the team."
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