Twice Tammy Abraham assists helped Roma take a winning league begin under Jose Mourinho with triumph against Fiorentina in a match featuring two red cards.
Former Chelsea player Abraham could have had a goal of his own, but struck the crossbar with a close-range header with the score still at 1-1.
It was the perfect start for Mourinho and made for a welcome return for the Roma fans, attending a game at the Stadio Olympico for the first time since February 2020.
Former Chelsea, Tottenham and Inter Milan manager Jose Mourinho named Roma boss.
They had to wait to fully celebrate their side’s first two goals, with each requiring long VAR checks to decide if Mkhitaryan had strayed offside before finishing the first and Abraham gone a moment too early to set up the second.
Sunday’s game was a difficult one by which to make an early judgement on Mourinho’s Roma, with the game distorted by the red cards, the first going to Dragowski in the 17th minute for a foul outside his area on Abraham, who had broken through the defence.
The second dismissal came early in the second half, levelling the numbers and rocking Roma sufficiently for them to also see their goal advantage wiped out by Milenkovic, who has been been linked with a move to both Tottenham and West Ham this summer.
Rui Patricio, signed from Wolves in the off-season, also had a fine debut for Roma, making a number of good saves in the game, but the real star was Abraham.
He was substituted with cramp with 20 minutes left, but had shown enough already to suggest he will be a real asset to Mourinho in his second spell in Italy.
Mourinho succeeded fellow Portuguese Daniel Fonseca at Roma, who finished seventh in Serie A last season.
Ishaq Mustafa
