Four Key Figures From Roma’s Victory Over Atalanta

19

As in the number of recoveries by Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Mkhi is by no means your classic defensive midfielder, nor is he the type of midfielder José Mourinho would typically slot into his double pivot, but Mkhitaryan was spectacular in that role yesterday. His performance was all-around solid, but the 19 balls recovered was nearly 1/4 of the 80 recovered by Roma as a team yesterday; a truly eye-popping quantity. Mkhitaryan may have found himself a new position for the rest of the campaign.

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7

As in the number of total shots for Atalanta. For the second time this season, Roma ceded the lion’s share of possession to La Dea. However, despite controlling 64% of possession, Atalanta managed just seven total shots and only four on target. Considering that La Dea had nearly two-thirds of the possession in the match, seven is a very low number of shots. Compare that to the 17 total shots that Gasperini’s side had on 72% possession in the first meeting, and it shows just how well the team defended to keep the clean sheet and render Atalanta’s attack toothless.

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33 (12)

As in the number of defensive pressures applied by Max Kumbulla (with 12 successful pressures), both of which were season highs for the 22-year-old Albanian. Earlier in the season, Kumbulla looked like a liability and potential bust, but he has quickly become one of the Giallorossi’s most improved players. He was a key reason as to why Roma stifled Atalanta’s attack, particularly Italy international Matteo Pessina, who had an anonymous 60 minutes running down Roma’s left flank.

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20

As in the number of goals on the season for Tammy Abraham. Abraham scored the lone, decisive goal when Roma struck on the counter-attack in the 32nd minute. The goal was Tammy’s 13th in the league (5th best) and 20th in 35 matches in all competitions. As Tammy continues to find the back of the net, there will be fewer people questioning if he was the right solution at striker and more wondering just how high that number can climb the rest of the way. Just imagine if he didn’t hit the post so many times early in the season!