Chelsea defender Reece James has said Tammy Abraham needs to be paid more respect after he continued his hot Roma streak at the weekend. The ex-Blues forward found the net twice for the Italian giants in their Derby della Capitale victory against Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico.
Abraham was twice on the scoresheet for Jose Mourinho’s men as they sealed an emphatic 3-0 victory against their historic rivals, getting the scoring underway after less than a minute played as he tapped home from a corner. He added to that strike just over 20 minutes later as he once again fired in from close range.
Lorenzo Pellegrini rounded off the first-half scoring with a stunning free-kick but the headlines were captured by Abraham. He became the first English player to score in the Rome derby since Paul Gascoigne whilst he also broke a club record for the most goals scored in a debut season in the Italian capital.
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His brace against Lazio takes the 24-year-old to 23 goals for the campaign in all competitions since his big-money move from Chelsea - a better record than Serie A legends Gabriel Batistuta and Vincenzo Montella managed in their first campaigns. The goals were also key for Roma and Jose Mourinho, with the Giallorossi moving themselves back into the European places - albeit they still sit eight points off of the top four.
After watching his former teammate terrorise Lazio - as he has done to a number of Serie A defences this season - Reece James sent a strong message of support for Abraham.
Taking to his Instagram story alongside an image of the former Chelsea striker following the full-time whistle, he wrote: “Numbers don’t lie. Pay some respect please.”
Interestingly, Abraham has almost doubled the numbers of Romelu Lukaku this season as he went the opposite way by returning to Stamford Bridge from Serie A. The Belgian has just 12 goals in all competitions this term since his club record arrival.
Abraham could still return to Chelsea one day with it previously being reported that the Blues retain a €80m (£67m) buyback clause. That option will not become active until at least next summer though.
