Abraham lifts Roma to Conference League final as ex-Chelsea man continues success under Mourinho

Former Chelsea star Tammy Abraham has lifted Roma to the UEFA Conference League final to continue his recent success under Jose Mourinho in Italy.

Roma welcomed Leicester City to Stadio Olimpico for the second leg of their semi-final tie on Thursday night, with the aggregate score locked at 1-1 after the first leg at the King Power Stadium.

Mourinho's side edged ahead in the tie after just 11 minutes through Abraham, who rose highest to head home from a corner, and they then held onto their advantage in expert fashion to book a place in the showpiece event.

Abraham's stellar debut season at Roma continues

Roma spent £34 million ($42m) to sign Abraham from Chelsea in August last year, which has since proven to be something of a bargain deal as the England international has quickly adjusted to life abroad.

Abraham's goal against Leicester was his ninth in the Conference League and his 25th of the season in all competitions, a tally he has reached in 49 games.

Mourinho has played a key role in bringing the best out of the 24-year-old, and has been rewarded while becoming the first manager in history to reach a European final with four different clubs.

Abraham expressed his delight after the final whistle, telling BT Sport: "Before the game started, the fans won us this game. We could hear them before getting into the stadium and throughout the warm-up. We weren't even on the pitch and we heard them. The win was for them and my team. Hopefully we can go all the way.

"My job is to be active around the box. That's the kind of striker I am. Whenever I sniff an opportunity I try to take my chance. I'm not the best at heading but today was a pretty good one.

"It was a bit of a surprise [Ricardo Pereira was marking him] but it doesn't matter who is marking me, if I sniff a chance I have to go for it.

"I tried and my team tried. You had to give your all. We left everything out there. In the last couple of minutes I couldn't breathe. He [Mourinho] told me to keep going and we did that."

Who will Roma play in the final?

After seeing off Leicester, Roma can now look forward to facing Feyenoord in the inaugural Conference League final on May 25.

The Dutch outfit progressed after beating Marseille 3-2 on aggregate, but will be slight underdogs when they meet the Giallorossi at Albania's Arena Kombëtare later this month.

Further reading