Serie A Wrap: Roma stay in touch with Juve

Roma kept up their chase of Serie A leaders Juventus with a routine 3-1 win at home to Atalanta on Saturday.

A comfortable evening saw the hosts take the lead after just 13 minutes, when Dodo’s cutback found Rodrigo Taddei, who fired through a packed penalty area to score.

Roma continued to dominate proceedings and doubled their lead a minute before half-time, when Daniele De Rossi selflessly helped on Francesco Totti’s pass to Adem Ljajic, who finished with aplomb.

Totti, who put in a particularly sparkling performance, and Ljajic were on hand once again midway through the second half, combining to tee up Gervinho for Roma’s third.

Ivorian Gervinho should have added a fourth late on but somehow missed an open goal from five yards, before Giulio Migliaccio bagged a consolation for the visitors with a powerful header.

Roma are five points adrift of league leaders Juventus, who can move further clear when they visit Udinese on Monday.

In the day’s other game, relegation-threatened Sassuolo claimed a vital point at home to Cagliari in a 1-1 draw.

The home side took the lead after 37 minutes when Nicola Sansone’s perfectly weighted ball picked out Simone Zaza, who fired a left-footed strike into the roof of the net.

But the hosts were pegged back just after the break when Luca Antei was adjudged to have fouled Victor Ibarbo inside the box.

Agim Ibraimi stepped up to slot home the penalty, dealing a blow to the home side’s survival bid and giving Cagliari boss Ivo Pulga something to smile about in the first game of his second spell in charge of the club.

Sassuolo remain in the relegation zone after the loss, sitting two points adrift of safety with the teams around them set to play on Sunday.