Roma closes gap to one point on Juve

Genoa, Italy (SportsNetwork.com) - Roma moved to within one point of Serie A leaders Juventus on Sunday as the capital club notched a 1-0 win at Genoa courtesy of a first-half goal from Radja Nainggolan.

Juventus was held to a 1-1 draw at home earlier in the day by Sampdoria as the visitors equalized in the 51st minute through Manolo Gabbiadini, canceling out a 12th-minute goal from Juve's Patrice Evra.

That result opened the door for Roma, which was handed a numerical advantage in the 29th minute when Genoa goalkeeper Matia Perin was sent off for a professional foul.

Eugenio Lamanna stepped in to face the subsequent penalty kick from Adem Ljajic, and he produced a fine stop to keep the match scoreless.

However, Lamanna was picking the ball out of his net nine minutes later as Nainggolan got on the other end of a cross from Maicon to score on an acrobatic volley.

Gervinho attempted to double Roma's advantage in the second half, but his shot struck the far post, while Juan Iturbe headed the ball over the net from a dangerous position, leaving Roma just 1-0 up.

And those misses nearly proved costly in stoppage time when Genoa's Tomas Rincon scored from close range, only for the goal to be ruled out for offsides.

AC Milan joined Napoli on 24 points after claiming a 2-0 home victory over the club from Naples on Sunday thanks to goals from Jeremy Menez and Giacomo Bonaventura, leaving both clubs two points out of a Champions League place.

Fiorentina rolled to a 4-1 win at second-from-the-bottom Cesena with three goals coming after halftime, Hellas Verona edged Udinese, 2-1, with goals from Luca Toni and Lazaros Christodoulopoulos, while Parma and Cagliari battled to a 0-0 draw that does little to help other side in their battle against relegation.