Romans stay close
Spalletti’s side rout Torino to keep title hopes alive
MILAN: Edin Dzeko struck his 19th Serie A goal and Francesco Totti came off the bench with an assist as AS Roma kept their scudetto hopes alive with a 4-1 win over Torino.
Roma’s 18th win of the campaign saw Luciano Spalletti’s men leapfrog Napoli, 3-1 winners at Chievo, and return to second spot to sit seven points behind leaders Juventus.
Napoli, nine points behind Juventus, are six points ahead of both Inter Milan and Atalanta with Lazio and AC Milan boosting their European hopes with wins over Empoli and Fiorentina respectively.
“We were great tonight,” Spalletti told Premium Sport.
“After our win at Villarreal we risked struggling to get into this game, but instead we showed our true qualities.”
Fresh from hitting his second successive Europa League hat-trick in Roma’s 4-0 romp at Villarreal, Dzeko got Roma off the mark on 10 minutes after collecting Radja Nainggolan’s pass to coolly beat Hart at his far post from the edge of the area.
A Nainggolan volley was straight at Hart but he was powerless against Mohamed Salah’s superb volley from Dzeko’s failed attempt to control in the area.
Torino fought back, Sasa Lukic’s volley coming close and Wojciech Szczesny forced to stop Marco Benassi down low.
But all thoughts of a comeback were ended by Leandro Paredes’ stunning long-distance volley that sneaked inside Hart’s near post.
Totti was applauded when he replaced Kevin Strootman on 82 minutes, prompting a tactical change by Spalletti.
It was enough for Maxi Lopez, sidelined by coach Sinisa Mihajlovic for several weeks for being overweight, to fire an angled drive past Szczesny into the far bottom corner for a late consolation.
But when 40-year-old club captain Totti controlled a high ball in the area to lay off for Nainggolan, the Belgian unleashed a powerful curling drive that gave Hart no chance.
Spalletti added: “We need more leaders like Totti in this squad.”
Marek Hamsik moved to within three strikes of Diego Maradona’s Napoli record of 115 goals in a 3-1 win at Chievo, while veteran Zdenek Zeman steered Pescara to a first win since August in a 5-0 rout of Genoa.
In Sunday’s late game, on-loan Everton midfielder Gerard Deulofeu struck a 31st minute debut winner as Milan edged Fiorentina 2-1 at the San Siro.
Fiorentina striker Nikola Kalinic responded to Juraj Kucka’s 17th minute headed opener with the leveller four minutes later.
But when Borja Valero lost possession in midfield, Deulofeu pounced to sweep a curling drive past Ciprian Tatarusanu. — AFP