FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Europa League - Round of 16 - First Leg - AS Roma v Real Sociedad - Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy - March 9, 2023 AS Roma's Paulo Dybala reacts REUTERS/Alberto Lingria
(Reuters) -A Paulo Dybala penalty and a superb defensive performance gave AS Roma a 1-0 win away to Torino on Saturday that lifted them to third place in the table and boosted their hopes of a spot in next season's Champions League.
Jose Mourinho's side are on 53 points with nine matches left in the campaign and are one point ahead of fourth-placed AC Milan. Roma are two points behind second-placed Lazio, who will play Juventus later on Saturday.
In the wake of the match, Mourinho dismissed complaints about the lack of offensive quality.
"You win games when you score one more goal than your opponent," he said to DAZN, emphasizing that winning is the goal of sport.
"The objective remains the same always, to win as much as possible with the quality at your disposal and try to hide the weaknesses."
The match was only eight minutes old when Dybala converted a penalty following a handball from Torino's Perr Schuurs.
Following the goal, Roma went on the defensive, causing problems for Torino's midfield, who searched for opportunities without success throughout most of the match.
Despite the visitors' overall control of the match, Torino's Pietro Pellegri could have equalised late on when his shot towards goal was deflected inches wide.
However, Roma's day was marred after Ola Solbakken suffered a suspected dislocated shoulder following a clumsy fall in the second half.
"I think today we might’ve lost Solbakken for the rest of the season," Mourinho said.
Roma will prepare for Thursday's opening leg of their Europa League quarter-final against Feyenoord before hosting Udinese in Serie A on April 16.
Torino are 11th with 38 points.
(Reporting by Tommy Lund in GdanskEditing by Toby Davis)
