December 18, (THEWILL) – Roma won a hugely impressive 4-1 game at Atalanta on Saturday, ending the home side’s six-game winning streak in the process. Tammy Abraham scored a brace to earn the man of match accolade and take his season haul to six in 17 matches.
Abraham broke the stalemate in less than a minute as he surged through a swarm of defenders and his deflected shot left Juan Musso with little chance. Roma had rung out a warning that Atalanta should have heeded.
Although Atalanta replied well, they put too many bodies forward, and were penalised when Roma launched a counter-attack, with Nicolo Zaniolo squeezing the ball past Musso at his near post.
As a result, Gasperini made an early replacement, replacing Berat Djimsiti with Luis Muriel, who made an almost instant impact when his shot was deflected by Bryan Cristante, catching Rui Patricio off guard and cutting the score on the stroke of half-time.
Duvan Zapata believed he had equalised with an excellent header after the restart, but VAR intervened and the goal was ruled off for offside.
Atalanta’s misery was compounded two minutes later as Roma regained their two-goal lead when Chris Smalling stabbed home at the far post following Jordan Veretout’s free-kick.
Then, Abraham capped off a spectacular away performance by slamming the ball into the top corner from ten yards out, eight minutes from time bringing the game to an end 4-1.
Atalanta had won every league game since the beginning of November, with a wild goal-scoring frequency, but they were punished time and time again by a vicious Roma striking efficiency and a defence that was just as effective. A Champions League berth is now within reach, and Mourinho will be hopeful that his team can round off a busy festive calendar with a win over Sampdoria on Wednesday.
Saturday’s victory saw Roma leapfrog Fiorentina into fifth position, five points behind Napoli in fourth. Atalanta is still in third place, six points behind Inter.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
