Roma tops Cesena to go level atop Serie A

Published February 05, 2015

Rome, Italy (SportsNetwork.com) - AS Roma earned a 2-0 victory over Cesena at the Stadio Olimpico on Wednesday to move level with Juventus atop the Serie A table.

After slipping three points back with a draw against Sampdoria last time out, Roma made things right in Wednesday's clash thanks to Mattia Destro's ninth- minute opener.

The hosts clung to the narrow lead until the 81st minute when Daniele De Rossi chipped in with an insurance goal, lifting Roma to 22 points on the season.

It looked as if Juventus would retain first place in the Italian top flight with a scoreless draw at Genoa, but Luca Antonini absolved the Old Lady of that notion by notching a 90th-minute winner to give the hosts a 1-0 victory.

It was Juve's first league loss of the campaign, keeping the club on equal footing with Roma on 22 points apiece.

Along with Juventus, Sampdoria failed to emerge from the round unbeaten as a late penalty from Mauro Icardi handed the club a 1-0 loss at Inter Milan, its first defeat of the season.

Sampdoria's defeat allowed AC Milan to slot into third place in the table, though the Rossoneri only needed a 1-1 draw at Cagliari on Wednesday to accomplish that feat.

Led by a brace from Khouma Babacar, Fiorentina cruised to a comfortable 3-0 victory over Udinese on Wednesday while an 86th-minute equalizer from Gonzalo Higuain helped Napoli claim a point from a 1-1 draw at Atalanta. Higuain could have handed the visitors all three points in stoppage time, but the Argentine striker failed to convert the late penalty.

Elsewhere in Wednesday's Serie A slate, Luca Rigoni scored in the 81st minute to give Palermo a 1-0 victory over Chievo while Matteo Darmian's 10th-minute strike held up as the winner in Torino's 1-0 defeat of Parma.

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