Brazilian forward Julio Baptista scored the winner five minutes after the break as AS Roma gave their season a welcome boost with a crucial 1-0 derby victory over 10-man Lazio on Sunday.
Roma began the match only goal difference above the Serie A drop zone after a dreadful start to their season which had seen them win only twice in 10 games.
To make matters worse, their bitter city rivals have been operating at the other end of the table this term and victory would have seen them go third. The importance of this victory in terms of confidence and morale was not lost on Baptista.
PHOTO: EPA
“That was an important victory which means that this team can go forwards. We’re feeling stronger,” he said. “I want to help the team but the most important thing is our team spirit.”
Lazio started brightly and Argentine forward Mauro Zarate hit the side-netting after a clever pass from Goran Pandev opened up the Roma defense on 18 minutes. Moments later and Juan Pablo Carrizo made a sprawling save up the other end from a diving Mirko Vucinic header.
Those were isolated moments of action before the interval but five minutes after the restart the nominal hosts were in front as Baptista found the bottom corner with a header from Francesco Totti’s cross.
Lazio hit back straight away and Brazilian goalkeeper Doni was forced into a brilliant recovery save from a Zarate header.
Lazio’s cause was not helped as Cristian Ledesma was sent off for a second booking midway through the second half but Lazio kept pushing forward.
Pandev sent one shot from distance just wide and then Doni denied him with a great save from close in, although the Macedonia forward shot too close to the goalkeeper.
Roma also finished the game with 10 men as Simone Perrotta was sent off late on for a second yellow card after which Stephan Lichtsteiner almost snatched a point with a header that went just over.
CITY RIVALS
Meanwhile AC Milan closed the gap at the top to a single point behind city rivals Inter following a 1-0 victory over lowly Chievo.
Brazilian playmaker Kaka scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot following a dubious decision by the referee. Kaka tumbled in the area under minimal contact when chasing a flicked Ronaldinho pass but the referee gave a foul against Simone Bentivoglio, who appeared to be too far away from the world player of the year to actually have fouled him.
The midfielder made no mistake from the spot and although Milan went on to dominate the rest of the game, they failed to find a way through against the team that now props up the division.
It leaves the Serie A table with a familiar feel to it as Milan are just one point behind Inter, 2-0 winners at Palermo on Saturday, with Juventus, who thrashed Genoa 4-1 on Thursday, third.
“The table is starting to take shape a little more as was expected and we’re happy to be there, hanging onto Inter’s coat-tails,” said Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti.
“We controlled the game well despite some hairy moments where the defense was sitting too deep and we struggled to win back the ball,” Ancelotti said.
“We could have put the game to bed but unfortunately we didn’t manage to convert our chances,” he said.
Things did not go so well for other potential title challengers though as Napoli, Udinese and Fiorentina all lost.
Napoli finished the game with 10 men as they went down 3-1 at Atalanta.
Brazilian Ferreira Pinto gave the hosts a 62nd-minute lead before Napoli’s Uruguay striker Marcelo Zalayeta was sent off.
DEFLECTION
Slovakian midfielder Marek Hamsik levelled from the penalty spot on 73 minutes but Thomas Manfredini crashed home a free-kick, via a wicked deflection, a minute from the end and Sergio Floccari tapped home the third in injury time.
Udinese’s top four hopes took a big hit as they lost for the second match in a row, going down 1-0 at home to previous basement sitters Reggina as Franco Brienza scored the only goal of the game.
Rising star Robert Acquafresca scored the winner from the spot as Fiorentina lost 1-0 at Sardinians Cagliari.
Italian Serie A
Team P GD PTS
1 Inter 12 12 27
2 AC Milan 12 9 26
3 Juventus 12 9 24
4 Napoli 12 6 23
5 Lazio 12 8 22
6 Udinese 12 9 21
7 Catania 12 3 21
8 Genoa 12 5 20
9 Fiorentina 12 4 20
10 Atalanta 12 1 17
11 Palermo 12 -2 16
12 Cagliari 12 -3 13
13 Siena 12 -3 13
14 Sampdoria 11 -5 13
15 Lecce 12 -3 12
16 Torino 12 -5 11
17 Roma 11 -7 11
18 Bologna 12 -11 8
19 Reggina 12 -14 8
20 Chievo 12 -13 6
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