Roma thrash lowly Lecce to end four-match winless streak
ROME: Fifth-placed Roma ended their four-match winless run, including three defeats, with a 4-0 success over lowly Lecce.
Paulo Fonseca’s side keep touch with Atalanta, in fourth, who are three points ahead in the final Champions League berth, with a game in hand.
The under-fire Portuguese coach praised the players for improving in ever area as they followed on from their Europa league last 32, first leg win over Ghent.
“I accept the critism,” said Fonseca. “If things are not going good the coach takes the blame, so in those moments I wasn’t expecting flowers.”
Turkish striker Cengiz Under picked up a Henrikh Mkhitaryan cross to fire Roma ahead after quarter of an hour in Rome.
Edin Dzeko set up Mkhitaryan for the second eight minutes before the break with the Bosnian himself connecting with a low Aleksandar Kolarov cross for the third with half an hour to go.
Kolarov rushed through to neatly tap in a fourth after 79 minutes, following good work from both Dzeko and Carles Perez for a first victory in the Stadio Olimpico since Dec. 15.
“When you are losing you don’t feel good. I feel sharp,” said Dzeko. “These two wins will give us a boost going into the next few games.”
Lecce’s run of three consecutive wins ended as they sit three points over the relegation zone.
Earlier, Lazio kept their bid for a first Serie A title in 20 years on track as they stayed one point behind leaders Juventus with a 3-2 win at Genoa, but four Serie A matches were postponed amid growing coronavirus fears in northern Italy.
Reigningchampionsjuvehadedgedoutbottom club SPAL 2-1 on Saturday, but Lazio responded to keep the pressure on, extending their unbeaten away run in the league to 20 games.
Third-placed Inter Milan, who are six points behind Juve, saw their game on Sunday at the San Siro against the other Genoese club, Sampdoria, postponed, with Thursday’s Europa League match against Bulgarian club Ludogorets at risk, along with next weekend’s league clash with Juventus in Turin.