Three Things We Noticed in Roma’s 1-1 Draw With Milan

If you ever meet someone who asks you to describe what it’s like rooting for the Giallorossi, I don’t you want to say anything, simply sit them down and have them watch a replay of Roma’s 1-1 draw with Milan this weekend.

In what was a quintessential Roma moment, Tammy Abraham’s 94th-minute goal would seemingly give Roma all three points over Milan and see them leapfrog the reigning Scudetto winners for fourth place in the table, but a late Milan equalizer just minutes later would ensure that the points were shared and neither side would go home happy.

And having said that, let’s take a look at three things I noticed from Roma’s draw with Milan.

#1: Two Points Dropped

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Look, going into the match, you probably would've been okay with a draw if you were Roma. Sure, you lost against Atalanta and have Inter to play next weekend, but with a favorable schedule the rest of the way outside of the Inter match, a point wouldn’t have been too bad of an outcome.

But when you snatch a draw from the jaws of victory, as Roma did on Saturday when Alexis Saelemaekers was found unmarked at the back-post, scoring the equalizer just seconds away from full-time, you absolutely can argue that this is two points dropped.

If Roma fails to qualify for next season's Champions League, I don’t think Mourinho will look back at this match as the moment that it slipped away, but man, what a golden opportunity missed for the Giallorossi.

#2: Yet Another Injury

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With Chris Smalling, Paulo Dybala, Gini Wijnaldum, and Diego Llorente all missing against Milan due to injury, the Giallorossi could ill-afford another injury, particularly to its backline. Unfortunately, the injury gods would strike again, this time claiming Marash Kumbulla just fifteen minutes into the match on Saturday.

It’s a cruel development for Roma, given their current injury woes, and an even crueler one for Marash himself, as the Albanian defender has been on the outside looking in for the majority of the season and finally had another opportunity to showcase to Mourinho that he deserved more consideration for minutes.

It’s reportedly a torn ACL for the Albanian; fingers crossed for a speedy recovery for Marash.

#3: Good for Tammy

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Look, the result was poor, given that Roma would concede the equalizer just seconds away from victory, but let's give credit to Tammy Abraham. Not only for his would-be winner but also for his work off-the-ball, as on more than one occasion, the Englishman would track back nearly the length of the field and nick the ball away from the ever-dangerous Theo Hernandez.

You could see from his celebration how much that goal meant for him, a feeling I can imagine was only heightened after he found himself denying Pellegrini the opener in the first half.

With all the injuries hitting Roma at the worst possible time in the season, the Giallorossi will need Tammy to continue to produce the rest of the way, so despite the result, we’ll absolutely take a goal for Tammy’s confidence.

Well, that’s all from me. Roma will have to quickly bounce back from the rollercoaster of emotions that came from this one, as the Giallorossi travel to Monza in midweek in what truly is a must-win match in the race for a top-four spot.