Spezia-Roma 0-2, El Shaarawy and Abraham decide

Roma impose themselves with authority at the Peak, spreading a never dangerous Spezia 2 to 0, albeit with the excuse of numerous absences. For Mourinho’s team, who scored through El Shaarawy in the 45th minute and Abraham in the 49th minute, it was a fundamental victory in the “new” race for fourth place, without Juve, which now sees them tied to Inter third on 37 points.
At the Peak, the Giallorossi show up with the new El Shaarawy paired with Dybala behind Abraham, leaving a bruised Lorenzo Pellegrini on the bench. For Spezia, back from the beating in the Italian Cup with Atalanta but also from a streak of five useful results in the league, Gotti has to deal with very heavy absences: Nikolau, Kiwior (just sold to Arsenal), Bastoni, Ekdal and especially the bomber Nzola.
In place of the Angolan centre-forward, he starts from 1′ Green, a former player with a poisoned tooth who has already punished the Giallorossi in the past. Rome’s contract begins, with Spezia trying to be immediately aggressive despite bad luck hitting the black and whites again in the 10th minute, when Holm has to go out due to injury, giving way to Ferrer. In the 16th minute Roma protested for a possible penalty kick for a foul on Zalewski, but the referee Sozza interpreted the Pole’s unnatural fall well and let them continue.
The match
Rough first half and stingy with chances, with Mourinho’s team struggling to undermine the defensive organization of La Spezia, limiting themselves to a few impromptu shots from distance. The first thrill for the black and whites comes only in the 41st minute: a free kick from Dybala and a quick kick from Abraham who crosses the area without finding the winning tap-in from a teammate. And it is precisely another side of the English that inspires the Giallorossi opening goal: the defense of the hosts is found uncovered, leaving Dybala and El Shaarawy alone in front of Dragowski, and the Argentine is good at serving the companion who supports easy easy for Rome 1 to 0. Gotti redesigns Spezia at the start of the second half with two changes: Esposito for Hristov and Maldini for Verde. Start with a bang: in the 47th minute strong protests from the Giallorossi bench for a missed second yellow card in Bourabia, who probably deserved it. Minute 48′: Esposito’s mistake at the exit that “hits” Dybala, effectively launching the restart that leads to 2 – 0 Roma. Even the doubling is the result of a great play by Abraham, this time primed by Joya, who dribbles Caldara and pierces Dragowski with an angled low shot. Spezia stunned struggles to come out and risks again in the 58th minute: first the Polish goalkeeper rejects a close header from Abraham, then on the rebound Matic fires with his right foot just wide. The last half hour confirms the defensive solidity of Mourinho’s team, which never suffers from the offensive sorties of a willing Spezia. Final note for Celik, who after an excellent performance in the 88th minute takes a naive yellow that will cost him the trip to Naples next Sunday. It ends 0 to 2 at the Peak, a match with few emotions but which once again demonstrates the solidity of Roma, temporarily linked to third place by Inter.