Miralem Pjanic fires Roma to first home win in four months
ByReuters
Updated 04/04/2015 at 21:33 GMT
Miralem Pjanic's goal gave Roma a 1-0 win over Napoli in Serie A on Saturday, their first home victory for more than four months, and in-form Lazio eased to a 3-1 victory over lowly Cagliari.
Miralem Pjanic, Manuel Iturbe, Daniele Rossi und Ljaic feiern Romas 1:0
Image credit: Eurosport
Roma struck in the 25th minute when Alessandro Florenzi set up Pjanic after a string of precise passes and his low shot beat keeper Mariano Andujar.
Pjanic, who was also on target when Roma last won at home against Inter Milan in November, gestured towards the press box after his goal.
"Was my celebration controversial? Some people in the press talk too much," he told Sky Sports Italia.
Rudi Garcia's Roma controlled the opening half and pressed their opponents all over the pitch.
The second period was a different story as Napoli attacked furiously without managing to break through and Rafa Benitez's team have now lost four straight away games to slip to fifth in the standings.
Lucas Biglia scored one penalty and missed another as third-placed Lazio sealed their seventh successive league win to move on to 55 points, one adrift of city rivals Roma.
"Today we showed we've learnt from past mistakes," Lazio coach Sergio Pioli told Sky Sports Italia. "We had a different mind sight compared to losses against Empoli and Cesena.
"We have to stay humble but are on the right path."
Carlos Tevez scored a thunderous free kick to help leaders Juventus beat Empoli 2-0 to stay 14 points clear at the top.
Tevez's fierce free kick from inside the area two minutes before the break and a Roberto Pereyra tap-in in stoppage time gave Juve their fourth win in a row.
"I knew I had to shoot it high," Tevez told reporters. "I can't remember ever scoring a similar goal."
Alessandro Diamanti and Mohamed Salah helped Fiorentina to a 2-0 win over Sampdoria on a rain-drenched pitch which lifted their team into fourth place on 49 points.
AC Milan notched their first away win in over five months when Jeremy Menez out-ran two defenders and delivered an unstoppable shot to give his side a 2-1 victory over Palermo.
Milan are eighth on 41 points, six adrift of fifth-placed Napoli.
Inter Milan were denied their first win in five games in a 1-1 draw with bottom club Parma, who continue to show great resolve despite players not being paid since the beginning of the season.
Cesena came back from a three-goal deficit in Verona to earn a point that left them third-bottom on 22 points, four behind Atalanta who lost 2-1 at home to Torino.
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