Roma’s commitments for another calendar year are done – and it has been one of ups and downs either side of the summer.
There have been plenty of twists and turns throughout 2021, making it hard for players to maintain levels of consistency.
Some have managed it more than others, though. While the overall results have been mixed for the club, there have at least been some memorable goals along the way.
Here’s where they have mainly come from.
=10. Bryan Cristante (4)
This list was supposed to be a top 10, but there were two players tied on four goals, so it has become a top 11.
Anyway, kicking things off is Bryan Cristante, who scored two goals apiece either side of the summer.
Playing in defence at times throughout the 2020-21 season, he managed to score once in Serie A and once in the Europa League. Then, mainly back in midfield this term, he has scored once in the league and once in the Europa Conference League so far.
=10. Carles Perez (4)
Carles Perez has not been a regular starter for Roma in 2021, so has had to make do with what opportunities he has been given.
From his 35 appearances – of which only 12 were starts – he managed to score on four occasions.
Yet to get off the mark in Serie A for 2021-22, his goals were split between the second half of last season’s league (one) and Europa League (one), plus this season’s Europa Conference League (two – including Roma’s consolation in the 6-1 defeat to Bodo/Glimt).
=8. Gianluca Mancini (5)
One of Roma’s better performers in the 2020-21 season, Gianluca Mancini’s form has dipped slightly in the new campaign. However, he has still had an impact at both ends of the pitch when taking the year as a whole into consideration.
Like Perez, he has no league goals for 2021-22, but three of his four Serie A strikes last season came this side of the turn of the year. Most memorably, he scored a dramatic late equaliser against his boyhood club Inter Milan in January.
Mancini also got himself on the scoresheet once each in last season’s Europa League and the group stage of this term’s Conference League.
=8. Roger Ibanez (5)
Mancini’s fellow defender Roger Ibanez has become something of an unexpected goal-getter in recent months. A threat from set pieces, the Brazilian-born centre-back already has four goals to his name this season.
It followed a famous goal against Ajax in last season’s Europa League, with his volley evoking memories of much-missed former captain Agostino Di Bartolomei in terms of technique.
He also scored in a Rome derby for the first time in September, although sadly it wasn’t an occasion to celebrate by full-time. Overall, still, Ibanez is proving himself as a danger in both boxes.
7. Edin Dzeko (6)
The final few months of Edin Dzeko’s glittering Roma career were somewhat underwhelming, but he still managed half a dozen goals.
Already the club’s third top scorer of all time by the start of the year, he netted the first Roma goal of 2021 in a January fixture against Sampdoria. Little did he know it would be his last league goal for the club.
A fall-out with Paulo Fonseca disrupted him later that month, but although the goals dried up in Serie A, Dzeko still played an influential role in the run to the Europa League semi-finals – in which he scored in both legs despite the elimination.
6. Jordan Veretout (7)
One of the main ways in which Jordan Veretout developed across the 2020-21 season was his goalscoring. Adding to his reputation as a reliable penalty taker, he began to contribute more from open play too.
Although his form has dropped in the new campaign, Veretout has actually scored more goals this side of the summer than from the back end of last season. Four of his seven goals – including a brace on the opening day in Serie A – in 2021 have come in the Jose Mourinho era.
It could have been more had he not lost his magic touch from the penalty spot, but the midfielder has been dependable in front of goal in general.
5. Stephan El Shaarawy (8)
It took Stephan El Shaarawy some time to get back into a rhythm after returning to Roma from Shanghai Shenhua in January, not finding the net in the league until the final day of last season, but he has slowly rediscovered the right track.
His return of two goals from 14 appearances in his first half-season back in Rome has been followed up by six from 22 in the current campaign, in which his gametime and output has increased.
He has scored against every opponent – although not in every game – Roma have faced in the Conference League so far.
4. Henrikh Mkhitaryan (9)
One of Roma’s most influential players under Fonseca but one for whom there were concerns under Mourinho, Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored seven goals for the former coach in 2021 (including one in the Coppa Italia game against Spezia in January, even though the result was later given as a walkover defeat) and two for the current one.
Mkhitaryan scored the last Roma goal of the 2020-21 season, also against Spezia but this time in the league, and also got the first Roma goal in the new campaign (in Serie A, at least).
Mkhitaryan’s role change in the last few weeks of the year have restricted his output, but he has been a go-to man for goals and creativity on the whole.
3. Tammy Abraham (12)
Embed from Getty ImagesTammy Abraham arrived at Roma in the summer with big expectations to live up to – and the €40m man has been doing a good job of meeting them.
The new number nine already has 12 goals to his name for his new club, which is as many as he scored for Chelsea across the entire 2020-21 season. In addition, he has hit the woodwork as many times as anyone else in Europe’s top five leagues, so it could have been even more.
Abraham has made a positive impression overall and has every chance of hitting the 20-goal mark by the end of his debut season in Rome.
2. Borja Mayoral (14)
One of four joint-top scorers in the 2020-21 Europa League, Borja Mayoral put up some reliable numbers as Roma’s backup striker last season.
He has only scored once in the new season after falling out of favour under Mourinho, but managed 13 under predecessor Fonseca in the first half of the year.
Mayoral scored four braces in 2021, including two against Crotone, one against Spezia and one against Shakhtar Donetsk. What has come since hasn’t been enough to win over Mourinho, but at least he had a productive first section of the year.
1. Lorenzo Pellegrini (17)
Roma’s most reliable player of 2021 – not just for goalscoring, but in all aspects – has without a doubt been Lorenzo Pellegrini.
Becoming captain of his boyhood club towards the start of the year, it has been a time to remember for the Italian midfielder.
His levels of consistency improved massively after inheriting the armband, culminating in him scoring nine goals in the second half of last season (like Mkhitaryan, his goal in the Coppa Italia walkover loss is still included) and eight in the first half of this one.
Pellegrini scored the first goal of the Mourinho era in the Conference League play-off against Trabzonspor. He went on to score a brace against CSKA Sofia in the group stage – one of which was named the competition’s goal of the week – after also netting doubles in the league against Crotone and Salernitana either side of the summer.
Stepping up to take responsibility, the Roman has scored all manner of goals. There were free kicks against Ajax in April and Cagliari in October, for example, and a backheel against Verona in September.
2021 has been a year Pellegrini will never forget. It was the one in which he really became Roma’s talisman.
Leave a Reply