Roma travelled to the Stadio San Paolo today determined not to do what Inter did last week and lose to Napoli. With Inter winning on Saturday evening it was probably a case of win this or say goodbye to any hopes of the Scudetto.
Having knocked Real Madrid out of the Champions' League during the week, Roma's confidence was sky-high and it showed in this afternoon's game. When Napoli visited the Olimpico earlier this season there had been an amazing 4-4 scoreline and that must have been in the Roma players' minds.
It didn't take long for Roma to take the lead when just 80 seconds into the game Totti was able to lay on a goal for Simone Perrotta who put the ball into the bottom corner.
Napoli came close with shots from Lavezzi, Zalayeta and Hamsik; the same players who had given Inter so much trouble, before Perrotta nearly added another goal to his tally on the counter. With Napoli playing an attacking game they did leave themselves exposed at the back and Totti forced Gianello to save with his feet from close to.
After the break the referee gave Roma a penalty after Mannini was judged to have fouled Cicinho. Totti, in his 500th match in a Roma shirt stepped up to convert the spot-kick. Domizzi and Lavezzi caused problems for the Roma defence, but they held out and remain six points behind Inter in Serie A this evening. Edy Reja of Napoli said after the game: "Roma are in great shape. We showed some quality too, but were unable to score. The Giallorossi were solid in defence and it was difficult to find space."
Elsewhere, Milan won at Empoli 1-3, thanks to two late goals and Juventus put two unanswered goals past Genoa with Trezeguet and Grygera scoring. Fiorentina were the only side in the top five to lose as they went down at Siena 1-0.
THIS WEEK'S RESULTS
Catania 2-1 Cagliari
Empoli 1-3 Milan
Genoa 0-2 Juventus (eve.)
Inter 2-0 Reggina (Sat eve.)
Lazio 2-0 Livorno
Napoli 0-2 Roma
Palermo 1-1 Udinese (Sat eve.)
Parma 1-2 Sampdoria
Siena 1-0 Fiorentina
Torino 1-0 Atalanta
SERIE A TABLE
Pts P W D L F A
Inter 64 27 19 7 1 52 16
Roma 58 27 17 7 3 48 24
Juventus 51 27 14 9 4 48 24
Fiorentina 47 27 13 8 6 40 26
Milan 46 27 12 10 5 41 21
Udinese 40 27 11 7 9 34 36
Sampdoria 39 27 11 6 10 36 34
Palermo 36 27 9 9 9 35 41
Genoa 35 27 9 8 10 31 37
Atalanta 34 27 8 10 9 40 41
Lazio 33 27 8 9 10 31 33
Napoli 33 27 9 6 12 37 42
Torino 31 27 5 16 6 30 32
Siena 31 27 7 10 10 31 34
Catania 27 27 6 9 12 23 33
Livorno 26 27 6 8 13 27 41
Parma 25 27 5 10 12 32 43
Empoli 25 27 6 7 14 22 37
Reggina 22 27 4 10 13 21 41
Cagliari 18 27 5 6 16 22 45
Cagliari have been penalized three points for taking unauthorised legal action against a former player for alleged defamation
