AS Roma coach Jose Mourinho was delighted with his players after their 7-0 rout of Empoli.

Paulo Dybala struck twice, with Renato Sanches, Bryan Cristante, Gianluca Mancini, Lukaku and an own goal completing the scoring.

“I am a coach, so I have to think or at least express myself in a different way," began Mourinho.

“It was a good performance, but it was not a 7-0 performance. We played to win, to win in a comfortable fashion. There were a few ups and downs, including in terms of fitness, so we could tell there were some who are not in condition to play at high intensity for 90 minutes.

“I am sorry for Empoli, but this is football and at times a 7-0 happens. I still saw some things about the team that I didn't like from the touchline and we'll evaluate it more in depth with my staff later."

Lukaku was substituted just moments after scoring his first goal for the club.

“It was not important for me. It might be important for him, I know strikers live for the goal. Since the moment he arrived, he has been all about the team and it doesn't matter if he scores or not. Obviously, he feels happier coming off after a goal and it's perfect for him, especially to score in front of the Curva.

“Romelu brings a different profile to the team and we still need to learn how to play for him, because we don't have the hang of it yet, nor does he know how to play for us. We have time to work on it and games help that too."

He added, "I understand perfectly well what the media is like, the influence of the press on some fans, but for me we were not the team that people talked about a few weeks ago, nor was I so awful a coach as they said last week. Similarly, we are not extraordinary after this match.

"We are a squad with the potential to do well. Our objective is simply to take it one game at a time and win."