Hummels feared he’d score another Roma own goal against Napoli | OneFootball

Mats Hummels admits he feared he’d have scored another own goal for Roma, so Romelu Lukaku had time and space to bag the winner for Napoli: ‘It was not good defending, but it was tough to defend.’

The German centre-back made his second Roma appearance this season, coming off the bench in Sunday’s 1-0 loss against Napoli.

Claudio Ranieri made his debut in the Roma dugout for the third time in his career but could not avoid defeat against the table leaders.

“It was a tough start for me personally and the team. The season is not going so well so far. It was the first time I played 45 minutes [this season],” Hummels told DAZN.

Hummels feared he’d score another Roma own goal against Napoli

Mats Hummels in training with Roma (picture via www.asroma.com)

“I’m working on my condition, trying to help the team as soon as possible, but of course, I need minutes in the legs to achieve that. We are working as a team. We’ll be a better team in the coming weeks. We didn’t play a bad game, but not even a good one. Napoli deservedly won, but the mentality we showed on the pitch and the training ground every day makes me believe that we’ll get better results and improve as a team.”

Lukaku squeezed past Hummels and Mile Svilar to score the winner for Napoli, and Hummels admitted he could have done more.

“I already watched the goal. I felt it was possible to try to get to the ball in the game. It was a good ball between the keeper and the defender. [I thought] if I put my foot there, I’d score an own goal, but it was difficult for Mile as well,” he said.

“It went like this, so I should have tried to put my foot there, but in the game, you have milliseconds to think, and maybe I could score an own goal, and Mile had a better chance to get it. The position was not so bad; it was not good defending, but it was tough to defend in this situation, let’s put it this way.”

Hummels already scored an own goal in his first Roma appearance against Fiorentina in October. The Giallorossi eventually suffered a 5-1 win at the Stadio Franchi.

Hummels joined Roma on a free transfer in September and his contract at the Stadio Olimpico runs out in June 2025.