Tammy Abraham admits he had been missing goals at the Stadio Olimpico, hails ‘special player’ Paulo Dybala and insists Roma ‘looked like a team that could win the league’ when beating Empoli 2-0.
The Giallorossi were coming off back-to-back defeats, in Serie A to Napoli and in the Coppa Italia quarter-final to Cremonese, so were in need of a boost.
They certainly started on the right foot, taking the 2-0 lead within six minutes thanks to two identical goals, Roger Ibanez and Tammy Abraham rising to nod in Paulo Dybala corners.
Before this header, Abraham had not scored in a Serie A home match at the Stadio Olimpico for over 200 days.
“It was very important for me, it’s been a long time coming. Last season I scored quite a lot of goals here and couldn’t wait to get the first one,” Abraham told DAZN.
“I should’ve had two or three headers today in front of the fans, but I’ll take the goal, I’ll take the three points and now hopefully I can continue scoring at home, where I love.”
They needed a strong reaction after the Coppa Italia quarter-final defeat to Cremonese at the Stadio Olimpico midweek.
“We were all disappointed and that game affected us, so we had to play well today, get a result for ourselves, for the fans and all of Rome. In the first 25-30 minutes we looked like a team that could win the League. We just have to carry on like this, keep putting in performances and winning.”
Naturally, it all feels much easier when Dybala is in the Roma line-up and he confirmed that with two assists this evening.
“Of course, Paulo is a very special player, we all know what he can do, we work well together. Today he assisted me, so it’s nice that we keep sharing the assists and goals. He is a winner like myself, like my teammates, we want to win and he brought that experience that we needed.”
Abraham was asked what he dreams of when he closes his eyes and thinks about the future at Roma, his answer following up their Europa Conference League triumph.
“I said last season I wanted to come here and win a trophy, we did that. This is a new season, we’re still in the Europa League, which we’re going to fight for. I always said I wanted to fight for trophies, the fans deserve it. So I hope to keep scoring and win another trophy.”