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Saturday 23 Nov 2024
LOCAL EDITION
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LOCAL EDITION
Roma's Tammy Abraham celebrates scoring his side's second goal during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Torino and Roma at the Olympic Stadium in Turin, Italy, Friday, May 20, 2022. (Spada/LaPresse via AP)
TURIN, Italy (AP) — Tammy Abraham scored twice to help Roma win at Torino 3-0 on Friday and seal a spot in Europe for next season ahead of the Europa Conference League final next week.
Both Abraham goals came in the first half of Roma’s final Serie A match. The England international took his tally to 26 goals in all competitions in a fantastic first season at the Italian club.
“I would’ve loved to get three to score a hat trick for my team, but the most important thing is we won,” Abraham said. “We wanted to finish the season well. It’s been a long hard season and fair play to all my teammates, we’ve done well. Now we’ve got a final to look forward to and we’re all excited.
“Like I’ve always said, I fell in love with this club from the first day. It’s been a good year for me. I’d like to build on this year and hopefully we can finish with a trophy and this would just be the perfect year.”
Lorenzo Pellegrini converted a second penalty for Roma 12 minutes from time.
It was Roma’s first Serie A win in more than a month and ensured José Mourinho’s team finished at least sixth, securing a spot in next year’s Europa League regardless of what the teams below it manage on Saturday.
Roma meets Feyenoord in the Europa Conference League final on Wednesday.
Both Abraham goals came following huge mistakes in the Torino defense.
For the opener in the 33rd minute, the home side gave the ball away in its own half and Pellegrini found Abraham, who turned Torino defender David Zima inside out before riding a tackle and firing into the bottom right corner.
Roma doubled its lead when Torino defender Ricardo Ivan Rodriguez played a horrible back pass and, in Etrit Berisha’s attempt to get to it, the goalkeeper tripped Abraham.
Abraham struck the resulting penalty coolly down the middle three minutes before halftime.
When substitute Nicolò Zaniolo was barged over by Alessandro Buongiorno in the second half, Pellegrini converted the penalty into the bottom left corner.
