MILAN: Roma consolidated third place in Serie A with a 3-0 win over Udinese, who also had a penalty saved on Sunday.
Edoardo Bove, Lorenzo Pellegrini and substitute Tammy Abraham scored for the home team, while Udinese forward Roberto Pereyra had a nightmare match as he conceded a penalty and also had a spot-kick saved.
Roma moved three points above AC Milan and five points above fifth-place Inter Milan after they both dropped points on Saturday. The top four in Serie A qualify for next season’s Champions League.
Serie A leader Napoli drew on Saturday and Juventus lost 1-0 at Sassuolo earlier Sunday, meaning Roma was the only team to win after being involved in European action midweek.
Roma won their previous two Serie A matches without conceding a goal but had lost at Feyenoord midweek in the Europa League.
Paulo Dybala had come off injured during that loss — as had Abraham — and was ruled out of the game at the Stadio Olimpico. It was thought Abraham would be ruled out as well but he was fit enough for the bench.
Roma took the lead eight minutes before halftime when they were awarded a penalty following an on-field review that determined Andrea Belotti’s header – which was going wide – had come off the arm of Pereyra.
Bryan Cristante’s spot-kick came off the right post but the 20-year-old Bove fired home the rebound.
Pellegrini doubled Roma’s lead 10 minutes after the break after a wonderful through ball from Belotti.
It was Pellegrini’s first goal from open play in more than 18 months and came on his 100th match as captain of his hometown club, and days after he missed a penalty against Feyenoord.
Udinese were gifted a way back into the match in the 69th minute when they were awarded a penalty of their own following a handball by Gianluca Mancini.
However, Pereyra’s night went from bad to worse when he saw his penalty saved by Roma goalkeeper Rui Patricio.
Abraham came on for Belotti in the 74th and headed in Leonardo Spinazzola’s cross in stoppage time.
Halftime substitute Gregoire Defrel scored to give Sassuolo only its third-ever Serie A victory against Juventus in 21 matches.
Defrel struck in the second half and Juventus also almost conceded an own-goal in a largely mediocre appearance from Massimiliano Allegri’s team.
Juventus host runaway league leader Napoli next weekend.
Seventh-place Juventus had been making a push for the Europe spots despite a 15-point penalty for false accounting. They had won seven of their previous eight league matches before losing to Lazio last weekend.
Sassuolo had the better of a dull first half but neither side had a shot on target.
Mattia Perin was standing in for Wojciech Szczęsny after the Juventus goalkeeper took a knock to the chest and struggled to breathe during the midweek win over Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League.
And Perin pulled off a stunning save to keep out Defrel’s header from point-blank range 12 minutes after the break.
Juventus defender Federico Gatti came close to scoring an own-goal in the 62nd when he tried to head away a shot on goal but it came off the left post.
However, Sassuolo broke the deadlock two minutes later when Nicolo Fagioli tried to clear a corner but it came straight to Defrel, who did well to control the ball and place a swiveling shot into the bottom right corner.
Juventus poured forward in search of the equalizer and Sassuolo goalkeeper Andrea Consigli did brilliantly to scoop Adrien Rabiot’s header out from under the crossbar.
Lecce were held to a 1-1 draw by bottom club Sampdoria in a result that did neither side any favors.
Sampdoria’s January signing Jese netted his first Serie A goal in the 75th minute to cancel out Assan Ceesay’s first-half opener in a largely dominant performance from Lecce.
Samp remained stuck to the bottom of the table, 10 points from safety, with Lecce five points above the relegation zone.
Salernitana were two points above Lecce after drawing 1-1 at midtable Torino.
