Roma tops Genoa to take over second place
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Rome, Italy (SportsNetwork.com) - Goals from Seydou Doumbia and Alessandro Florenzi helped Roma to a 2-0 home victory over Genoa on Sunday, moving the club one point clear of third-place Lazio.
Doumbia opened the scoring in the 35th minute, while Florenzi's goal came just before the final whistle to wrap up Roma's second successive victory, while Genoa drops to seventh with the club sustaining its 10th defeat of the campaign.
The two sides traded chances in the opening 30 minutes before the home side grabbed the lead 10 minutes before the interval.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
A poor clearance from Genoa's Facundo Roncaglia struck Doumbia, allowing him to collect the ball and beat two defenders before firing a shot past goalkeeper Mattia Perin from the middle of the box.
Perin produced a nice stop on Radja Nainggolan's powerful effort from 30 yards before the break, while Miralem Pjanic squandered a chance to double the lead when he fired wide from close range.
Genoa's Iago Falque had two opportunities to equalize but his first attempt was thwarted by a nice save from Roma goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis, while his goal-bound effort five minutes from time was kept out by an important block from Daniele De Rossi.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
The points were secured just before the end of the match as Florenzi gained possession of the ball in midfield and went on a run into the penalty area that ended with him beating Perin from 15 yards.
Lazio dropped to third place after being held to a 1-1 draw at Atalanta as the capital club needed a 77th-minute goal from Marco Parolo to salvage a point.
Fiorentina jumped into fifth place by using two goals from Josip Ilicic in a 3-1 win over Cesena, which now sits nine points from safety with four matches remaining.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Udinese edged Hellas Verona, 1-0, with a second-half goal from Antonio Di Natale, Inter Milan and Chievo played out a 0-0 draw, while Napoli cruised to a 3-0 rout of AC Milan at the Stadio San Paolo.