21st September, 2014
Mattia Destro and Alessandro Florenzi hit one apiece for Roma in a 2-0 win over Cagliari that sent the Giallorossi to the top of Serie A thanks to superior goals difference on Sunday.
Champions Juventus had gone clear of the pack thanks to a 1-0 win over AC Milan on Saturday when Carlos Tevez’s 71st minute strike made the difference between the sides at a packed-out San Siro.
However Roma, 5-1 winners over CSKA Moscow in midweek, continued their fine start to the season with a dominant performance in front of a sparse crowd at the Olympic Stadium.
With Roma now back in the Champions League, coach Rudi Garcia rested Francesco Totti and Miralem Pjanic while Davide Astori, Juan Iturbe and Leandro Castan were all missing through injury.
Garcia handed Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa his full debut, the France defender partnering Kostas Manolas at the heart of Roma’s defence with Ashley Cole and Maicon.
Cagliari, now coached by former Roma handler Zdenek Zeman, were looking for their first win of the campaign but from the early stages the Sardinians had their backs to the wall.
Destro forced 20-year-old Serie A debutant Alessio Cragno into evasive action with a turn and shot in the opening minutes, but the ‘keeper could do little to stop Destro breaking the deadlock minutes later.
Florenzi drew the Cagliari defence before rolling a low cross towards the back post, where Destro, unmarked, fired past Cragno from close range.
Two minutes later Roma were celebrating again, Seydou Keita sighting Gervinho in space as Cagliari tried to spring the offside trap.
The Ivorian took possession and beat his marker before laying off for Florenzi to beat Cragno with a precise angled strike from the right of goal.
Florenzi celebrated in some style, jumping over a barrier and leaping into the stands to hug his 82-year-old grandmother — and earning a yellow card for his trouble upon his return to the pitch.
Cagliari’s first real chance on goal came on 24 minutes when Luca Ceppitelli saw his header go just wide of Morgan De Sanctis’s upright following a free kick on the right flank.
Roma continued to dominate in the second half and on 63 minutes Maicon saw his effort go wide of the target.
Minutes later, Destro failed to fully connect with the Brazilian’s cross while he was unmarked at the back post.
Elsewhere, Mauricio Pinilla struck three minutes from the end to hand Genoa a 1-0 home win over Lazio to give Gian Piero Gasperini’s side their first win of the season at the Luigi Ferraris stadium.
Sassuolo hosted high-flying Sampdoria looking to make amends for a 7-0 whipping by Inter Milan last week and escaped with a point from a scoreless draw which left Sampdoria in fourth place, four points behind Roma, ahead of the rest of Sunday’s games.
Earlier, Antonio Cassano hit a brace for injury-hit Parma to help claim their first win of the season with a 3-2 defeat of hosts Chievo.
Cassano dedicated his goals to fellow Parma striker Jonathan Biabiany, who has been stopped from playing indefinitely after being diagnosed with cardiac arrhythmia.
Cassano, who himself underwent a heart operation in 2011, said: “Of course I dedicate my goals to Biabiany, who is someone I really care about.
“I hope he can get back on his feet as soon as possible. I understand what he’s going through.”
Later Sunday Fiorentina will look for their first win of the campaign away to Atalanta, Udinese host stuttering Napoli, Inter are away to Palermo and Torino host Verona.