(AFP) - Roma regained its winning streak and rose to fourth place with its difficult and valuable victory over Verona 3-1 on Monday at the end of the twelfth stage of the Italian Football Championship.
Verona was the first to score through his Polish defender Pavel Davidovich in the 27th minute, but the latter made it difficult for his team to maintain its lead by expelling him in the 36th minute after he was blocked by international midfielder Nicolo Zaniolo when the latter was on his way to be alone with goalkeeper Lorenzo Montepo.
The capital team, which fell 1-0 at home to Napoli, took advantage of the numerical shortage and turned the tables on the landlords. He equalized through Zaniolo when he followed up with his left foot on a rebound from the left post after a shot by Englishman Tammy Abraham (45 + 1).
Zaniola suffered an injury in the second half and left his place for Christian Volpato (58).
The crossbar denied the Serbian international substitute, Nemanja Matic, from granting the lead to Roma, by returning his header from close range, after a corner kick that Lorenzo Pellegrini (82).
Volpato succeeded in hitting the net of the landlords when he received a creeping cross from Matic after a wonderful individual effort for the latter, so he hit it with the first touch from outside the area to the left of the goalkeeper (88), before the other substitute of Egyptian origin, Stephan El Shaarawy, added the third goal, taking advantage of a pass on a plate of gold. Inside the area from Volpato, he cleverly raised it above goalkeeper Montebo and dodged it before following it into the empty goal (90 + 2).
Portuguese goalkeeper Rui Patricio saved his goal from a goal for the home side by blocking a powerful shot by Ghanaian substitute Ibrahim Suleiman from inside the area (90 + 4).
Rome took advantage of the loss of its neighbor, Lazio, against its host Salernitana 1-3 on Sunday, and snatched fourth place from it, by one point, after raising its score to 25 points, while Verona suffered its seventh consecutive and ninth loss this season, so its score froze at five points in the penultimate nineteenth place.
Bologna followed the example of Roma and turned the tables on its host Monza, achieving its third victory this season, 2-1.
Newcomer Monza advanced to the top flight through Andrea Petagna in the 57th minute from a penalty kick, and Bologna responded by Scotsman Louis Ferguson (60) and Riccardo Orsolini (73).
Bologna confirmed its revival with its second successive victory after the first over Lecce 2-0, and the third this season after defeating Fiorentina 2-1 in the sixth stage.
Bologna dissolved the partnership with Montsa after raising its score to 13 points and rose to the twelfth place, while Montsa's balance froze at 10 points in the fifteenth place, with its third loss in a row and the eighth this season.