Goals by Edin Dzeko and Gervinho in a 2-0 win over Lazio handed title contenders Roma the bragging rights from the Rome derby on Sunday as Rudi Garcia’s men moved up to second place in Serie A.
Against the backdrop of a fans’ protest that saw the Stadio Olimpico only half full for the fiercest city derby in Italy, hosts Roma made light of the thousands of empty seats to further underline their scudetto credentials.
Ahead of Fiorentina’s late game away to Sampdoria that could see La Viola move top ahead of Inter Milan, Roma coach Rudi Garcia had mixed emotions.
While delighted with the win, Garcia was furious at Senad Lulic’s tackle on Mohamed Salah that saw the Egyptian winger stretchered off with a suspected sprained ankle.
“It will be a miracle if it’s not fractured. Tackles like that don’t belong in football, even in a derby,” said Garcia.
He added: “The speed of Gervinho and Salah was decisive, especially on the counter. But we did everything right today. We pressed up high, shut down spaces and got in behind their defence.
“I think we fully deserved the win.”
Roma were in command from the outset and were rewarded in the ninth minute, albeit by a dubious penalty decision.
Despite Lazio defender Santiago Gentiletti’s challenge on Dzeko appearing to be just outside the area, it was enough to convince the referee to point to the penalty spot.
Dzeko made no mistake, stepping up to slam the ball past Federico Marchetti to claim just his second league goal for Roma but second in a week after hitting the net in a 3-2 Champions League win over Bayer Leverkusen.
Lazio coach Stefano Pioli said the penalty decision changed the direction of the game.
“We had our chances just as much as Roma but what made the difference was two episodes, one of which we had no control over,” he said referring to the penalty.
“The other (Gervinho’s goal) was our fault, our responsibility and in the end we paid the price.
“This is our third consecutive defeat of the season and it’s not an ideal situation for us.”
Stunned 2-1 at Atalanta a fortnight ago and 3-1 at home by AC Milan last week, Lazio came to the derby as clear underdogs but were unlucky not to level on several occaions.
Roma ‘keeper Wojciech Szczesny was saved by the woodwork when Brazilian Felipe Anderson deftly nutmegged William Vainqueur to unleash a superb drive from distance that rattled the crossbar.
Szczesny was left exposed again when defender Stefan Radu got a shot away from a tight angle inside the area, only for Vainqueur to come to the rescue with a clearance that saw him slam into the post as Filip Djordjevic slid in close by.
Yet Roma’s well-oiled midfield, superbly marshalled by Belgian international Radja Nainggolan, was virtually untouchable, although the hosts twice wasted chances to build on their lead before the interval when Dzeko skewed wide and Nainggolan fired a daisycutter off the far post.
After Lulic stamped on Salah’s ankle, causing it to bend inwards, the Egyptian was driven off on a stretcher and replaced by Alessandro Florenzi.
Roma were quieter in the second half but Gervinho’s pace took the Ivorian on to Nainggolan’s incisive through ball and past defender Dusan Basta before beating Marchetti at his near post to send the majority of the 35,252 crowd wild.
Elsewhere, Juventus fought back from a 19th minute opener by Empoli striker Massimo Maccarone with goals from Mario Mandzukic, Patrice Evra and Paulo Dybala securing a second successive league win for the first time this season.
Earlier Sunday Inter Milan went top thanks to a 1-0 win at Torino where France international Geoffrey Kondogbia hit his maiden Serie A goal.