Roma tops Hellas Verona to remain perfect

Published January 13, 2015

Roma maintained its perfect start to the Serie A season on Sunday, scoring three goals in the span of 10 second-half minutes to cruise to a 3-0 defeat of Hellas Verona at the Stadio Olimpico.

The Roman club was held scoreless in the opening period but managed to find a breakthrough inside the opening 11 minutes of the second half as Fabrizio Cacciatore conceded an own goal in the 56th minute.

Miralem Pjanic erased any notion that Roma took the lead through an unfortunate circumstance as the 23-year-old doubled Roma's advantage three minutes later, and Adem Ljajic made sure of the victory by grabbing an insurance goal in the 66th minute.

Roma has now taken six points from its first two matches, scoring five goals and keeping clean sheets in both games.

Hellas Verona, unable to build upon its opening day defeat of AC Milan, remains on three points in its first season back in the Italian top flight.

AC Milan 3, Cagliari 1

Milan, Italy - AC Milan bounced back from its loss to Hellas Verona on the opening day of the Serie A season to claim a 3-1 defeat of Cagliari at the San Siro on Sunday.

The home side was in front by two goals by the 30-minute mark as Robinho's opener in the eighth minute was supplemented by Philippe Mexes in the 30th, but Cagliari managed to cut its deficit in half before the interval thanks to Marco Sau's goal three minutes later.

Milan controlled the second half and eventually grabbed an insurance goal in the 62th minute thanks to Mario Balotelli, who notched his first league goal of the season.

Inter Milan 3, Catania 0

Catania, Italy - Inter Milan continued its strong start to the season by cruising to a 3-0 defeat of Catania at the Stadio Angelo Massimino on Sunday.

The visitors were in control of the match from the opening whistle but only managed a one-goal lead by halftime thanks to Rodrigo Palacio's 19th-minute strike.

Inter put the game to rest in the second half with Yuto Nagatomo and Ricardo Alvarez scoring in the 56th and 80th minutes, respectively.

Fiorentina 5, Genoa 2

Genoa, Italy - Giuseppe Rossi and Mario Gomez both recorded braces to lead Fiorentina to a 5-2 victory over Genoa at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris on Sunday.

After Alberto Aquilani got the visitors off the mark in the 10th minute, Rossi continued the roll four minutes later by doubling Fiorentina's advantage while Gomez struck in the 41st minute to hand the club a comfortable cushion heading into halftime.

Alberto Gilardino pulled one back in the 54th minute for Genoa, but it was canceled out a minute later by Rossi. Francesco Lodi converted a penalty in the 60th minute to bring Genoa back to within two, but Gomez answered with a penalty of his own in stoppage time, completing an impressive outing from Vincenzo Montella's men.

Udinese 3, Parma 1

Udine, Italy - Udinese secured its first league victory of the season on Sunday as it topped Parma in a 3-1 win at the Stadio Friuli.

Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu provided the home side with the lone goal of the first half while Thomas Heurtaux doubled Udinese's edge in the 72nd minute.

Antonio Cassano handed Parma a lifeline with a goal eight minutes from time, but Udinese managed to close out the match when Luis Muriel converted from the spot in the 89th minute.

Livorno 4, Sassuolo 1

Modena, Italy - Livorno came out on top in a battle of two newly-promoted sides on Sunday, earning a 4-1 victory over Sassuolo at the Stadio Alberto Braglia.

Simone Zaza thought he had erased Leandro Greco's opening goal in the 66th minute, but Innocent Emeghara scored for Livorno three minutes later to restore the club's lead.

The visitors never looked back as Paulo Sergio Betanin and a penalty from Emeghara helped Livorno complete the comfortable victory.

Atalanta 2, Torino 0

Bergamo, Italy - Atalanta bagged two second-half goals to earn a 2-0 win over Torino at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia di Torino on Sunday.

After a scoreless opening period, Guglielmo Stendardo got Atalanta off the mark with a goal in the 57th minute.

Stefano Lucchini scored nine minutes from time to leave visiting Torino with no way back.

Bologna 2, Sampdoria 2

Bologna, Italy - Bologna and Sampdoria split the points after playing to a 2-2 draw at the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara on Sunday.

The two sides were even at halftime after Citadin Eder and Davide Moscardelli exchanged goals in the opening period, and they finished level after Panagiotis Kone's strike was negated by Manolo Gabbiadini in the 71st minute.

Both clubs suffered losses in the opening Serie A weekend, leaving them level on one point apiece.

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