Timing is everything, isn’t it? It proved again on Saturday afternoon as well-timed strikes from two English players gave Roma a big 4-1 win over Atalanta in the Serie A.Former Chelsea man Tammy Abraham scored inside the first minute of the match to give Jose Mourinho’s side the dream start and Chris Smalling poked another goal 20 minutes before time to kill off Atalanta’s hopes of a comeback.Nicolo Zaniolo played a lovely one-two with Abraham and proceeded to finish past Juan Musso to dobule the lead for the capital club before half-hour of play.Two goals today, 12 this season, Tammy Abraham is cooking at Roma 🐺 pic.twitter.com/VWuqWgcGdZ— B/R Football (@brfootball) December 18, 2021 Atalanta managed to pull one back just before the break when Lucas Muriel’s shot took a wicked deflection and beat Rui Patricio to half the deficit. It looked like a decent position for the hosts ahead of the remaining 45 minutes. But once again, the timing was to prove bad for them and just right for Roma.Duvan Zapata celebrated the all-important leveller on 68 minutes, but after a VAR check the goal was denied and Roma’s lead remained. Atalanta fans were still cursing their luck when it got even worse for them. Former Fulham and Manchester United defender Chris Smalling reacted well to a deep cross from Jordan Veretout and bundled in with his shin. There was another VAR check – but this time the goalscorer’s timing was right. The goal stood and Roma were cruising.Ten minutes later, Abraham scored another well-taken goal after a devastating Roma counter-attack. Atalanta’s afternoon took another turn for the worse and there was no coming back. Jose Mourinho joined his players in heartfelt celebrations as Roma leapfrogged Fiorentina to the fifth spot and came just six points behind Atalanta in third.SERIE A – ROUND 18FridayLazio – Genoa 3-1 (1-0)/Pedro 36, Accerbi 7, Zaccagni 81/Salernitana – Inter 0-5 (0-2)/Perisic 11, Dumfries 33, Sanchez 52, Martinez 78, Gagliardini 87/Saturday Atalanta – Roma 1-4 (1-2)/Muriel 45+1 – Abraham 1, 82, Zaniolo 27, Smalling 72/20:00 Bologna – Juventus22:45 Cagliari – UdineseSunday 14:30 Fiorentina – Sassuolo17:00 Spezia – Empoli20:00 Sampdoria – Venezia20:00 Torino – Hellas Verona22:45 Milan – Napoli***odds are subjecto to change
