Roma secured a valuable and well-deserved 2-0 victory over Sassuolo in their Serie A match on Saturday. This win not only earned the capital club three points but also temporarily propelled them to third place in the standings, reigniting the competition for a top-four finish and reducing the gap with league leaders Inter Milan to just three points, pending the completion of the remaining matches in this round.
Tactical patience and decisiveness in the final minutes
Despite Roma's clear dominance from the opening whistle, the Giallorossi struggled to break down Sassuolo's compact defense. The Stadio Olimpico crowd had to wait until the final quarter of the match to breathe a sigh of relief, as Frenchman Manu Koné finally unlocked the visitors' defense, scoring the opening goal in the 76th minute with a perfectly placed header – his second league goal of the season.
Just three minutes later, young Argentine star Matías Süle extended his team's lead with a second goal in the 79th minute, confirming Roma's deserved victory and bringing his personal tally to six goals in the competition. With this second consecutive win, Roma raised their points total to 39, putting the ball in the court of their direct rivals, Napoli and Milan, who face tough matches against Inter and Fiorentina respectively.
Atalanta continues its march and Cuomo refuses to be defeated
In a related development in the title race, Atalanta continued their strong performances under experienced coach Gian Piero Gasperini, securing their third consecutive victory. This time, the win came against Torino with a clean 2-0 scoreline. Belgian striker Charl De Kettlear opened the scoring early in the 13th minute, before substitute Mario Pašalić sealed the victory with a second goal in stoppage time (90+5). This win brings Atalanta's points tally to 31, strengthening their position in the European qualification places.
In another dramatic match, Croatian substitute Martin Baturina rescued his team, Como, coached by Spaniard Cesc Fabregas, from a bitter home defeat against Bologna. After Bologna took the lead through Nicolo Campaggi in the 49th minute, and were reduced to ten men when the same player was sent off in the 60th minute, Baturina snatched a dramatic equalizer in the fourth minute of stoppage time, ending the match 1-1. This result lifted Como to 34 points in sixth place, maintaining their unbeaten record for the fourth consecutive match.
Udinese stumble against bottom-ranked team
Meanwhile, Udinese squandered a golden opportunity to improve their league position, settling for a 2-2 draw against bottom-of-the-table Pisa. Despite Udinese overturning an early deficit to take the lead through goals from Christian Kabasele and Keinan Davis, the visitors managed to equalize in the second half through Danish midfielder Henrik Meister. With this result, Udinese reached 26 points, while Pisa remained rooted to the bottom of the table with 13 points, further complicating their chances of avoiding relegation.
