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Three and easy for Roma
Roma netted three times in the second half to complete what was ultimately a comfortable victory over Lecce on Sunday. After a goalless first half in which both sides cancelled each other out, Roma stepped up a gear after the break to boost their hopes of claiming a top-two finish at the end of the season. Emerson broke the deadlock five minutes after the interval and Roma were quickly celebrating a 2-0 lead when Cesare Bovo put through his own goal in the 54th minute. Roma captain Francesco Totti added gloss to the victory when he smashed home a penalty in injury-time. The three points were no more than Roma deserved in the end, although they found it difficult to move out of neutral in a disappointing first half. The nearest either side came to scoring in the opening 45 minutes was when Roma defender Walter Samuel intercepted a poor throw out by goalkeeper Vincenzo Sicignano before trying his luck with a low shot from 35 yards. Sicignano looked to have it covered, but a deflection off one of his defenders forced the custodian to scramble across goal and turn the shot behind for a corner. The half-time whistle was a welcome distraction for the supporters and Roma coach Fabio Capello used the interval to great effect. He made no substitutions but whatever he told his troops clearly had the desired effect with the visitors scoring twice within nine minutes of the re-start. The stalemate was ended when Gaetano D'agostino's corner from the left was met by Emerson at the near post. The Brazilian got his head to the ball and flicked it past Sicignano before the goalkeeper could even move. D'agostino was also involved in Roma's second goal when his free-kick from 25 yards out caused all sorts of problems for Lecce defender Bovo. He tried to clear the ball but lost his footing and succeeded only in slicing it into the roof of his own net. That put Roma in complete control of the match and they were able to sit back on their lead without too much trouble. Lecce's best chance of the second half fell to Marco Cassetti six minutes from time, but his low shot across the face of the goal failed to trouble Roma goalkeeper Ivan Pelizzoli. And Lecce's misery was made complete in stoppage time when Antonio Cassano was brought down in the area by Sebastiano Siviglia for a penalty which Totti converted high to the goalkeeper's left. |
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