After a midweek cup shock, Roma could ill afford to drop points in a fiercely competitive race for the European places, as they hosted an in-form Empoli side who were unbeaten in their last six SA games. The hosts started the game playing like a team with a point to prove, taking the lead inside the opening two minutes when Roger Ibañez met Paulo Dybala’s corner to powerfully head home the opener.
Dybala was on hand again moments later to send in another brilliant corner, this time greeted by Tammy Abraham who scored his sixth goal of the season with a well-directed header. Empoli struggled to defend every corner they faced and were lucky to not go further behind when Abraham put his header straight at Guglielmo Vicario from close range.
Empoli’s best chance of the first half came moments before the break, as Tyronne Ebuehi sprung on a loose ball in the box and somehow put his effort over the bar from close range. The visitors clearly hadn’t learnt their lesson from the opening exchanges, as immediately after the restart, Vicario was called upon to produce an outstanding double save first to deny Stephan El Shaarawy followed quickly by Abraham.
Roma had the opportunity to make it three SA home victories without conceding for the first time since 2019, and they defended like a team adamant on achieving this. In particular, Chris Smalling defended superbly throughout, limiting Empoli to very few chances. Jose Mourinho’s men were comfortable throughout, as they stole a march on their Europe-chasing rivals to move level on points with Inter ahead of the Milan derby.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Chris Smalling (Roma)
