Captain Francesco Totti scored on his return from a month-long injury layoff as AS Roma scraped a 3-2 win over Udinese on Monday to reduce the gap on leaders Juventus to 14 points.
Earlier, third-placed SSC Napoli had pulled level on points with Roma thanks to a 90th-minute strike from Gonzalo Hugauin which secured the points away to Torino.
However, Roma restored their three-point cushion on Rafael Benitez’s side after a tense finale caused by Dusan Basta’s 80th-minute header for the visitors.
Photo: AFP
Roma have reinforced their grip on second place, synonymous with the last automatic UEFA Champions League qualifying spot, but despite having a game in hand the Giallorossi remain 14 points adrift of Juventus, who had Andrea Pirlo to thank for an 89th-minute winner in a tense finale at Genoa on Sunday.
Totti welcomed his sixth goal of the season.
“It was nice to score, but the important thing was to win this game to make sure we stay in front of Napoli. We have to defend second place,” he told Sky Sport Italia.
Photo: Reuters
“That was the most difficult encounter at home in 15 or 16 games. We got the points, but we made life difficult for ourselves,” Roma coach Rudi Garcia said.
Totti enjoyed a dream return to the Stadio Olimpico when he picked up the rebound from Gervinho’s close-range shot following Miralem Pjanic’s delivery and drilled past teenage goalkeeper Simone Scuffet.
Gervinho finally looked back to top form and eight minutes later a run down the right flank allowed the Ivorian to square for Mattia Destro, and although he had to round Scuffet the Italian found the net with a low angled strike.
Minutes later Antonio di Natale tested Morgan de Sanctis with a curling shot which the goalkeeper dived to parry.
The visitors finally reduced the arrears six minutes into the second half when Totti was dispossessed in midfield and the ball found Giampiero Pinzi, who took a few touches before beating De Sanctis with a smart angled strike from the edge of the penalty area.
The goal shook Roma, whose defense minutes later had to rely on the reflexes of De Sanctis to rush out and block Di Natale’s drive from close range.
At the other end, Totti’s shot under pressure spun wide of Scuffet’s upright and then Gervinho bundled wide under pressure from Silvan Widmer.
Vaseilos Torosidis gave Roma a much-needed cushion when he carried the ball through Udinese’s defense to beat Scuffet with a low shot inside the goalkeeper’s near post.
Roma looked to be heading for a comfortable win, but from a corner in the 80th minute De Sanctis had to pull off a one-handed save, before seeing Basta’s shot from the rebound fly by him and into the net.
Roma spurned the chance to put the match beyond reach when Pjanic set up Alessandro Florenzi, who replaced Totti on 72 minutes, but the forward’s effort was over.
In Turin, Napoli’s last-gasp win came with controversy after claims that Higuain had fouled defender Kamel Glik before beating Daniele Padelli with a strike that crept under the goalkeeper’s body.
Torino coach Giampiero Ventura has had plenty of reason this season to complain about refereeing decisions, having lost both derbies against Juventus due to a goal which looked offside and a penalty that was not awarded.
“I feel embarrassed for my players. I’m not going to talk about the injustices we’ve suffered, we just want this season to finish as soon as possible,” Ventura said. “We should have 10 points more than we do have.”
Higuain brushed off the incident.
“There was contact with Glik, but he and I were both running fast. All I can do is celebrate the goal,” he told Sky Sport Italia.
SEESAW CONTEST: The Pistons remain top of the Eastern Conference after battling to a win over the Hawks in a game that saw the lead change 27 times The Phoenix Suns on Monday shrugged off an injury to Devin Booker to end the Los Angeles Lakers’ seven-game winning streak with an emphatic 125-108 victory on the road. Booker exited in the first quarter, but the loss of the star point guard did little to halt the flow of Phoenix points over the remainder of the game. Dillon Brooks led the Phoenix scoring with 33 points, while Collin Gillespie added 28 — including eight three-pointers — as the Suns romped to victory. The Lakers were left ruing a colossal 22 turnovers — at a cost of 32 Suns points — on a
New Zealand yesterday reached 231-9 at stumps on a first day of the first Test against the West Indies shortened by rain after Justin Greaves triggered a middle-order collapse with the wicket of Kane Williamson. New Zealand tumbled from 94-1 to 148-6 on a bowler-friendly wicket after Williamson was dismissed for 52, his 38th Test half-century. Michael Bracewell and Nathan Smith arrested the slide with a 52-run stand for the seventh wicket. Smith eventually fell for 23 and Bracewell for 47. After Matt Henry went for 8, Zak Foulkes and Jacob Duffy were both on 4 when bad light stopped play after 70
Kylian Mbappe on Wednesday scored twice and had an assist as Real Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao 3-0 to end a three-match winless streak in La Liga. Eduardo Camavinga also found the net for Madrid as they moved back within one point of Barcelona, who beat Atletico Madrid 3-1 on Tuesday. Both 19th-round matches were moved forward because Real Madrid, Barcelona, Athletic Club and Atletico Madrid are to play in the Supercopa de Espana semi-finals in Saudi Arabia next month. Real Madrid were coming off league draws against Girona, Elche and Rayo Vallecano. It was their second win in their past six matches in
Robin Smith, the batter who shone for England in a period when it was beaten regularly in Test cricket, has died. He was 62. Smith’s family said in a statement from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) that he died unexpectedly at his home in Perth, Australia, on Monday. No cause was given. He played 62 Tests for England from 1988 to 1996, scoring 4,236 runs at an average of 43.67 with nine centuries. His signature shot was the square cut. Smith also played in 71 one-day internationals and was part of England’s squad who reached the 1992 ICC World Cup final. His unbeaten
RSS