Abraham ends Serie A goal drought as Roma shares spoils with Sassuolo

A draw meant Roma remained fifth on the league ladder, one spot behind Atalanta.

Roma’s Tammy Abraham celebrates after scoring via a header. | Photo Credit: AP

Hoping to make England’s World Cup squad, Roma striker Tammy Abraham scored his first Serie A goal since September in a 1-1 draw at Sassuolo on Wednesday.

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Abraham leaped amid three defenders to head in a cross from Gianluca Mancini in the 80th minute but Andrea Pinamonti equalized for Sassuolo with a swift counterattack five minutes later.

It was another disappointing result for Roma, which was beaten by Lazio in the Rome derby three days earlier.

Abraham, who scored 27 goals across all competitions last season in a breakout performance upon arriving at Roma after falling out of favor at Chelsea, had struggled to find the target this term. He scored one Serie A goal in August, one in September, and his only other score for Roma this season was in the Europa League on Oct. 27.

“Beyond the goal, he won duels, battled hard and played solidly,” Roma coach José Mourinho said. “He had a good match.”

Paulo Dybala, another Roma player hoping to go to the World Cup — with Argentina — is still out with a left thigh injury. There has been speculation that Dybala may return for Roma’s final match before the World Cup against Torino on Sunday.

But Mourinho wouldn’t say whether Dybala would play or not.

“I don’t know,” Mourinho said. “I know he’s in touch with the (Argentine federation) and (coach Lionel) Scaloni. We would love to have him against Torino but the players who are going to the World Cup will have their focus more there than here in the final round of games.”

Roma remained fifth, one spot behind Atalanta.

SLUMPING ATALANTA

Atalanta was beaten 2-1 at Serie B champion Lecce for its second consecutive defeat after a strong start to the season.

Lecce, which hadn’t won at home all season, was facing an Atalanta squad that was unbeaten in away matches.

But Federico Baschirotto and Federico Di Francesco scored two minutes apart for Lecce midway through the first half before Duván Zapata pulled one back for Atalanta before the break with his first goal of the season following an injury layoff.

In its next match, Atalanta hosts Inter Milan, which was playing Bologna later.

Also later, Fiorentina was facing Salernitana aiming to extend its winning streak in all competitions to five matches.