TURIN: Tammy Abraham gave Roma a point with an equalizer in Saturday’s (27 August) 1-1 draw at Juventus when Paulo Dybala returned to his old homeland.
England international Abraham headed his first goal of the season from a Dybala strike midway through the second half at the Allianz Stadium to maintain an unbeaten start for Jose Mourinho’s side.
Roma escaped Turin with one result despite being second-best for most of the game and Dusan Vlahovic put Juve ahead with a stunning free-kick with barely a minute on the clock.
And Manuel Locatelli’s superb goal, suspended for handball, also gave Roma a chance to secure the tie that links them with local rivals Lazio and Torino at the top of the league on seven points after the latter in Saturday’s other early game with won 2–1 against Cremonese.
Champions AC Milan can draw level with this trio should they beat Bologna in one of two late games.
“It was a difficult match, we’re happy with the draw because we had to fight the whole game,” Abraham told DAZN.
“Believe Juve, they are a good team. We weren’t quite there in the first half but we were better in the second half… We’re glad we haven’t lost yet.”
Good one-place result Roma have a terrible record and masked an overall poor performance from both the team and Dybala in his first appearance at Juve since leaving as a free agent in the summer.
The Argentinian striker won five Serie A titles and four Italian Cups in seven years with the Torino giants and received warm applause from home fans before the game.
However, there were some boos and whistles from the stands when he was finally substituted with 12 minutes to go after helping his old team win despite a collective first-half performance that Mourinho described as ‘not good enough’ to take two points.
ABRAHAM SAVES ROMA
It took just a minute and 16 seconds for Juve to assert their dominance through Vlahovic, who barely saw the ball in Monday’s dismal goalless draw with Sampdoria but converted a perfect free-kick with his first touch.
The visitors faltered and a lively display from the hosts kept them on the backfoot, while Dybala was barely visible to Roma as their midfield struggled to gain traction in the game.
That was down to the hugely impressive Fabio Miretti, who had previously played eight Serie A games but strutted through the middle of the park like a accomplished veteran.
The 19-year-old unleashed a midfield that had been almost invisible at Samp and his shot at goal resulted in Juan Cuadrado poking Rui Patricio’s fingers.
His presence also seemed to liberate Manuel Locatelli, who unfortunately failed to give Juve the deserved two-goal lead with a thunderous first goal from the edge of the box in the 25th minute.
While Locatelli and the home fans cheered, a handball by Vlahovic was spotted in advance by the VAR officials and the goal was ruled out.
After the break, the game was similar, with Juve the better side and insecure Roma unable to break away from the hosts’ attacks.
But Abraham, not having one of his better evenings, leveled the scores almost as quickly as Roma perked up thanks to the equally naughty Dybala.
A Lorenzo Pellegrini corner flew wide of the far post and Dybala was there to smash it over the goal where Abraham was only too happy to equalize from inches away.
Another Pellegrini corner nearly gave Roma a point, but Arkadiusz Milik chopped the ball around in front of the Juve goal and ensured his new side didn’t lose their unbeaten record a day after his arrival.