Tammy Abraham’s added-time goal against Spezia in the Italian Serie A was enough to return AS Roma to winning ways.
The Englishman on Sunday converted a controversial last-gasp penalty to the Rome club a 1-0 victory over 10-man Spezia after heroics from goalkeeper Ivan Provedel.
In the match where Giallorossi’s coach, Jose Mourinho, was suspended after insulting the referee, his side created some chances, but they couldn’t beat Provedel, except via the spot-kick.
The goalie was in action when he parried Mancini’s free header on a corner in the third minute.
Meanwhile, Spezia lost Jacopo Sala to a hamstring strain early on. Undeterred, the hosts, through Daniele Verde, threatened a stunning strike when he skinned Zalewski to blast not far over from a very tricky angle.
Roma continued to push for an opener, and they went even closer moments later when Lorenzo Pellegrini’s scorcher was fingertipped onto the upright, and Provedel also denied the Abraham rebound.
Roma continued their quest for a goal, and shots from Abraham and Pellegrini curled wide.
Spezia were later reduced to 10 men after Amian received a second yellow card for a shirt tug on Pellegrini. Unfortunately, he will be serving another fresh suspension after his comeback from another suspension.
After Abraham’s free header went off target straight after the restart, Bryan Cristante’s shot hit the upright with Provedel beaten.
Undeterred by the numerical disadvantage they have, Spezia almost took the lead when M’Bala Nzola shrugged off Zalewski and stung Rui Patricio’s gloves.
Roma had other chances through Veretout and Pellegrini, which were all wasted. Provedel then stopped Jose Mourinho’s men from beating him by making a full stretch palming a Pellegrini curler round the post.
Roma will then eventually get the goal after a goalmouth scrabbles made the referee award a final.
A corner Zaniolo managed to hit the crossbar twice in the same move before another mad goal-line scramble. This led to VAR’s intervention.
The situation had a high foot that caught Zaniolo during his diving header for the first of those attempts that hit the woodwork.
The referee awarded a penalty with the last kick of the game, leaving Spezia furious, as Zaniolo was diving for the ball.
Abraham showed composure and drilled the penalty low into the near-bottom corner. Provedel again got a fingertip to it but couldn’t stop it from going in.
In the big match Serie A fixture of the weekend, Napoli beat Lazio 2-1 away from home. Lorenzo Insigne scored to put Napoli ahead in the 62nd minute, but Lazio equalised through Pedro in the 88th minute. In stoppage time, Fabian Ruiz put the ball in the back of the net to give Napoli a decisive victory.
Written by: Oladipupo Mojeed
