Abraham thrives as Mourinho”s Roma eyes Champions League 

By PTI

ROME: England striker Tammy Abraham is thriving at Roma after leaving European champion, Chelsea.

The forward whom Jose Mourinho convinced Roma to spend 40 million euros ($44 million) on in August was decisive for the second consecutive game as Roma beat Atalanta 1-0 in Serie A on Saturday in a key match for the Champions League places.

Abraham’s first-half goal was his 20th across all competitions for Roma and it followed his late strike against Spezia in another 1-0 win last weekend.

The victory extended Roma’s unbeaten streak to seven matches and drew the Giallorossi level on points with Atalanta, three points behind fourth-placed Juventus  “with the top four qualifying for the Champions League.”

Shortly after the half-hour mark, Rick Karsdorp intercepted an Atalanta pass then Nicolo Zaniolo set up Abraham, who darted between the two center backs to complete the counterattack.

Earlier, a header from Roma defender Gianluca Mancini hit the crossbar. Abraham attributed Roma’s recent success to “togetherness.”

“We’re learning more and more about each other every today,” he said. ” A couple of months ago we probably would have conceded a goal in the last minute. But we fought as a team today.”

 After the goal, Abraham kissed his shirt — which he said was a tribute to a team that “lifted me up” after “a low time” in his career. “I’ll do everything for this club,” Abraham said. Mourinho served the second game of a two-match ban for insulting the referee.

Lazio remained one point behind Atalanta and Roma after beating relegation-threatened Cagliari 3-0 with goals from Ciro Immobile, Luis Alberto, and Felipe Anderson. A penalty from Immobile was his 143rd Serie A goal for Lazio, matching Silvio Piola’s club record.

Alberto then finished off a counterattack after an exchange with Felipe Anderson, who scored himself after the hour mark by dribbling past four defenders. Earlier, Udinese took a step toward safety with a 2-1 win over Sampdoria with goals from Gerard Deulofeu and Destiny Udogie.