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TAMMY ABRAHAM DOWNS LEICESTER AS ROMA REACH EUROPA CONFERENCE LEAGUE FINAL

Tammy Abraham broke Leicester hearts as Roma reached the Europa Conference League final.

The striker’s 27th goal of the season sealed a 1-0 win at the Stadio Olimpico and booked a showdown with Feyenoord in Tirana.

Jose Mourinho’s side progressed 2-1 on aggregate after last week’s semi-final first leg draw at the King Power Stadium.

The Foxes fell short in their first European semi-final and there will be a lingering sense of regret they failed to seriously trouble Roma and never did themselves justice.

The club have torn up the rule book after winning the Premier League and FA Cup in the last six years but, this season, European success was just out of reach.

Roma have not won a European competition for 50 years, since beating Blackpool in the 1972 Anglo-Italian Cup but Mourinho will now look to complete the set after his past Champions League and Europa League victories.

Home fans had begun hurling flares at the Leicester supporters long before kick-off at a hostile Stadio Olimpico with the hosts looking to reach their first European final since 1991, when they lost the UEFA Cup to Inter Milan.

A pre-match banner declared ‘Everyone in Britain dreads the name of the Romans’ and Roma’s determination was obvious.

Leicester did have early protests for a penalty ignored when Chris Smalling hauled down Wesley Fofana but the ravenous hosts quickly took charge to grab an 11th-minute winner.

Kasper Schmeichel had already saved Lorenzo Pellegrini’s cute free-kick as Roma forced a number of corners and it was, again, from a set-piece where Leicester conceded.

Pellegrini’s dangerous delivery was met by Abraham and he outjumped Ricardo Pereira to power a towering header past Schmeichel from seven yards.

It was the striker’s ninth goal in the competition this season – with Alan Shearer and Stan Bowles the only Englishmen to score more in a single European campaign.

Shell-shocked, Leicester retreated and Pellegrini, scorer of Roma’s first-leg goal, was a constant menace with Jonny Evans mopping up after Schmeichel saved another effort.

Roma were in control having out-muscled and out-manoeuvred the Foxes and kept the visitors at bay even when they did have brief spells of possession.

Boss Brendan Rodgers had spoken about using the 72,000 sell-out crowd to Leicester’s advantage, hoping to play on any nerves and anxiety with Roma so close to ending a 14-year trophy drought.

But his slow side were never able to find sustained momentum to even get under the hosts’ skin on the pitch.

Frustrations with inconsistent referee Srdjan Jovanovic were growing but the Foxes’ first-half performance warranted little else than being behind.

Rodgers rolled the dice at the break with the ineffective Ademola Lookman and Harvey Barnes replaced by Kelechi Iheanacho and Daniel Amartey.

A double change at the break helped the Foxes overcome a second-leg deficit to beat PSV in last month’s quarter-final and immediately they were more robust but still lacked the imagination to level the tie.

Jamie Vardy did have a shot blocked by Abraham and the Foxes saw more of the ball, with James Maddison curling at Rui Patricio with 13 minutes left.

But a low-key second half suited Roma and, even though they created little themselves, they were always comfortable.

Iheanacho shot at Patricio from distance as time slipped away but, this time, there was no fairy-tale ending for the Foxes.

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Tammy Abraham opens Roma account as Jose Mourinho’s side continue strong start

Tammy Abraham scored his first Serie A goal for Roma as they cruised to a 4-0 win at Salernitana.

The England international, who linked up with Jose Mourinho when he made a £34million switch from Chelsea earlier this month, scored Roma’s third goal with a fine finish after Lorenzo Pellegrini and Jordan Veretout had put them in control.

Pellegrini’s second goal of the game wrapped up a routine win.

Another former Chelsea striker, Olivier Giroud, scored twice for AC Milan as they claimed a convincing 4-1 victory over Cagliari. Napoli won 2-1 at Genoa and Sassuolo played out a goalless draw with Sampdoria.

Barcelona handed teenager Gavi his competitive debut in their 2-1 win against Getafe.

The 17-year-old midfielder impressed as first-half goals from Sergi Roberto and Memphis Depay ensured Barca made it two wins from two at the Nou Camp this season.

Luis Suarez was on the scoresheet as a stoppage-time own goal from Aissa Mandi ensured Atletico Madrid secured a point in a hard-fought 2-2 draw with Villarreal.

The former Liverpool man cancelled out Manu Trigueros’ opener, only for ex-Bournemouth winger Arnaut Danjuma to retake the lead for the visitors.

It looked as if Villarreal would put an end to Atletico’s unbeaten start to the season, but Mandi’s own goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time earned Atletico the draw.

Rayo Vallecano had four goalscorers – Alvaro Garcia, Oscar Trejo, Randy Nteka and Santi Comesana – in a 4-0 thrashing of Granada, who have yet to win a LaLiga game this season.

And stoppage-time goals from Roberto Torres – a penalty – and David Garcia stunned Cadiz as Osasuna snatched a 3-2 win.

Lionel Messi had to settle for a substitute appearance as Kylian Mbappe stole the headlines with both goals in Paris St Germain’s 2-0 win at Reims.

Entering the action in the 66th minute to replace Neymar, the Argentinian’s first touch was greeted with screams and cheers from the 6,000 travelling fans.

But it was reported Real Madrid target Mbappe who stole the show, opening the scoring after 15 minutes and wrapping up the points just after the hour.

Elsewhere in Ligue 1, last season’s title winners Lille beat 10-man Montpellier 2-1.

Yusuf Yazici had opened the scoring for Lille in stoppage time at the end of the first half, but there was still enough time for Gaetan Laborde to equalise before the half-time whistle.

Jonathan David scored the winner before Montpellier’s Junior Sambia was shown a straight red card with just over 15 minutes remaining.

A goalkeeping howler from Rennes’ Alfred Gomis gifted Angers their opening goal in a 2-0 win that moved them third, while Clermont drew 2-2 with Metz and Lens played out the same result against Lorient.

Strasbourg beat Brest 3-1 and Sofiane Diop scored twice as Monaco won 2-1 at Troyes.

In the Bundesliga, table-topping Wolfsburg maintained their perfect start to the season with a narrow 1-0 win over RB Leipzig.

Jerome Roussillon scored the only goal of the game just after half-time. Union Berlin also secured a 2-1 win over Borussia Monchengladbach.

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TAMMY ABRAHAM FLIES TO ROME TO COMPLETE £34M MOVE FROM CHELSEA TO ROMA

Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham is flying to Rome today to complete his transfer to Jose Mourinho’s Roma, according to reports.

Abraham has fallen out of favour under Blues boss Thomas Tuchel and has sought a fresh start, agreeing to join the Serie A side in a £34million deal.

Tuchel used the England forward just seven times after replacing Frank Lampard in January.

Timo Werner, Olivier Giroud and even Kai Havertz have often been preferred ahead of Abraham as the focal point of Chelsea’s attack.

Abraham scored 12 times last term but 11 of those came in the first half of the season under Lampard.

The 23-year-old’s decision to depart might have been prompted after Tuchel left him out of the matchday squads for both the FA Cup and Champions League finals last season.

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HAVERTZ, ABRAHAM ON TARGET AS CHELSEA BEAT ARSENAL IN PRESEASON FRIENDLY

Kai Havertz and Tammy Abraham fired Chelsea’s men’s side to a 2-1 preseason friendly win over Arsenal on Sunday in the Emirates.

In what was a double header with both the men’s and women’s teams competing to raise money for the charity Mind, Arsenal’s women’s side beat their London rivals 2-1 in the earlier game.

Havertz opened the scoring in the first half before Granit Xhaka pulled one back for Arsenal after the break. However, the lead only lasted four minutes before Abraham got Chelsea’s second.

Chelsea dominated possession for much of the match and were rewarded on 26 minutes when Timo Werner started a fast break and found Havertz whose right-footed shot went past Bernd Leno.

There was an injury worry for Arsenal on 40 minutes when Thomas Partey was forced off. Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta said after the game that Partey would have a scan on Monday but “at the moment it is not looking good.”

While the Partey situation is concerning for Arsenal, the match also saw the introduction of new £50 million signing Ben White.

Xhaka scored Arsenal’s equaliser on 69 minutes when he headed home from a Nicolas Pepe cross.

The Switzerland international had been linked with a move to Roma but Arteta said after the match that he would be staying with Arsenal this season.

“Granit is going to stay with us,” Arteta said. “He is a key member of our squad.”

Chelsea weren’t down for long, though, and Abraham scored a powerful right-footed shot into the bottom corner to give them the lead on 73 minutes.

In the early kick-off between the women’s sides, Arsenal beat Chelsea 2-1 with goals from Katie McCabe and Freya Jupp.

Reanna Blade had levelled things for Chelsea on 80 minutes but 17-year-old Jupp — who was making her senior debut — was the star as she scored the winner for Arsenal on 83 minutes.

McCabe had given Arsenal the lead on 27 minutes but it was the younger players who impressed.

There were injury worries for both sides with Jordan Nobbs and Pernille Harder going off with knocks.

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TAMMY ABRAHAM HELP CHELSEA CRUISE PAST BARNSLEY TO BOOK A SPOT IN THE FA CUP Q/FINAL.

Tammy Abraham saved Chelsea’s blushes with a second-half winner at Barnsley as his side scraped through to the last eight of the FA Cup with a 1-0 win.

Abraham struck the fifth-round tie’s only goal from close range, but it was tough luck on Barnsley, who put up a valiant effort.

The Sky Bet Championship side had the game’s best chances against Thomas Tuchel’s mis-firing Blues.

But they fell short in their bid to pull off a repeat of their club’s heroics against Chelsea in the same competition 13 years ago.

The Reds produced a huge quarter-final upset in 2008 when Kayode Odejayi headed their winner, but this time they paid the price for failing to take their chances.

They were unlucky not to have led at half-time, with Callum Brittain twice going closest to breaking the deadlock.

The midfielder’s close-range effort from Alex Mowatt’s excellent cross in the 10th minute forced a superb reaction save from Kepa Arrizabalaga.

Then just before half-time Brittain fired goalwards following a clever corner routine only for his shot to be deflected off target.

In between, Chelsea were denied what appeared to be a penalty by referee Martin Atkinson.

Tammy Abraham galloped on to Billy Gilmour’s throughball and Barnsley defender Toby Sibbick caught the Chelsea striker’s foot as he slid in for a goal-saving challenge.

Tuchel sent on Reece James and Antonio Rudiger for Marcos Alonso and Andreas Christensen at the start of the second half in a bid to kick-start his mis-firing side.

But Barnsley continued to look the more dangerous. Cauley Woodrow’s effort was blocked by Rudiger before Chelsea flickered into life.

Callum Hudson-Odoi wriggled free of two Barnsley defenders on to the left edge of the penalty area, but pulled his 60th-minute shot wide.

The Londoners had not mustered an effort on target, but threatened again when Rudiger’s header from Hakim Ziyech’s free-kick flashed wide.

James added real pace and power down Barnsley’s left side and it was the England right-back who fashioned Chelsea’s breakthrough.

He stormed beyond Barnsley’s cover and his fine low cross was tapped home from close range by Abraham to give Chelsea a 64th-minute lead.

Replays showed Abraham was offside when James played the ball across and the Premier League side will be grateful there are no video assistant referees in the FA Cup.

Abraham then rescued Chelsea at the other end, bailing out Arrizabalaga.

The Blues goalkeeper failed to get anywhere near another Mowatt free-kick and Abraham headed Barnsley substitute Michael Sollbauer’s hooked effort off the goal-line from under the crossbar.