Daniele de Rossi on Saturday marked his 500th appearance for AS Roma with a goal in his team’s 3-1 win over Empoli, with Rudi Garcia’s side moving into second place in Serie A.
The 32-year-old De Rossi found the target in the 59th minute after Miralem Pjanic had hit the opener with a direct free-kick three minutes earlier.
The Bosnian also played a key role in De Rossi’s goal when his corner was headed home by the midfield veteran.
Photo: EPA
Roma, playing without the injured Francesco Totti and Edin Dzeko, were 3-0 to the good in the 69th minute when Mohamed Salah found the net after being set up by Gervinho.
Empoli pulled a goal back through Austria international Marcel Buechel in the 70th minute.
The win took Roma into second spot in the table, one point behind leaders ACF Fiorentina.
“When you win, it is always a perfect night. I am even happier I scored a goal, especially when I do not score that often,” De Rossi said. “It is an important win for us, because Empoli are a tough side, they are well organized and solid in midfield. Everyone struggles against them.”
Elsewhere, AC Milan put the brakes on Torino’s promising start to the campaign by holding on for a 1-1 draw at the Stadio Olimpico di Torino.
Torino hosted AC Milan and were expected to claim their first win over the visitors since 2001.
However, despite Carlos Bacca putting the visitors ahead in the 63rd minute, Daniele Baselli pounced to level 10 minutes later for Torino.
It was Italy under-21 star Baselli’s fourth goal of the campaign, but he said: “I am happy for the goal, but not for the fact we did not win this match. We are a side that never gives up. It is a shame for the result.”
While it left Torino among the top five, four points behind leaders Fiorentina, Milan slipped to ninth place.
Milan coach Sinisa Mihajlovic said he has the full support of the club’s owner, former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, with whom he has held crisis talks of late.
After their third consecutive defeat, he said no one is hurting more than the club itself.
“We are the first ones to feel disappointed, but we just have to keep on working hard and trying to get better... There is still a long way to go in this championship,” Mihajlovic said.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
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