OMNISPORT 

Roma goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny says Gonzalo Higuain's winning goal for Juventus from their Scudetto showdown earlier this month "still hurts".

Higuain's exceptional solo goal gave Massimiliano Allegri's men a 1-0 home victory over Roma in their meeting on December 17.

The result came as a huge blow to the title hopes of Luciano Spalletti's men - they are now four points behind Juve in second place at the mid-season break, having played one match more than the champions.

Szczesny, on loan from Arsenal, was reviewing notable moments from 2016 and acknowledged the Higuain goal still causes him pain.

He said to Roma TV: "Next please, I don't like this one!

"It was similar to the match against Real Madrid, we played good football in a difficult stadium, we dominated the possession but came back with no points.

"This is the problem because we are a good team. But we always have to go to these stadiums and look for a result.

"It still hurts, but I will admit that Higuain scored a great goal. That is why he cost €90million, he is probably one of the best strikers in the world and he can decide important games."

But Szczesny is optimistic about Roma's future and thinks they have established themselves as the strongest threat to Juve's domestic dominance.

The Poland international added: "But we have to look ahead - there is no point in dwelling on what happened.

"It was a good year, we took the most points after Juventus, beating tough teams like Napoli, Inter, AC Milan and Lazio.

"We can look to the future with confidence because I think this team has a great future.

"This year has shown that there is a good base to build on and I think next year will be even better."