Roma holds off Lazio to claim derby win
 
Mirko Vucinic, above, replaced the injured striker Francesco Totti.
Rome, Italy - Roma won for the third time in four games as the club came from a goal down to record a 3-2 win on Wednesday against city- rivals Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico.
Tommaso Rocchi opened the scoring 12 minutes into the game for Lazio, but Mirko Vucinic and Alessandro Mancini both found the back of the net for Roma before the break. Simone Perrotta then gave Roma a two-goal cushion before Lazio hit back with a goal from Cristian Ledesma. However it was as close as they would get.
The game opened with both teams looking dangerous on the counter attack as Lazio took the lead and Roma wasted no time in responding.
Goran Pandev provided the ball from midfield 12 minutes into the game that gave Lazio the lead. Rocchi was able to stay even with Roma defender Philippe Mexes and then beat Mexes to the ball inside the box. The Lazio striker then finished off the play in clinical fashion as he slotted his shot past keeper Alexander Doni and into the lower right corner of the net.
Roma was playing without injured striker Francesco Totti for the second consecutive game, but his replacement, Vucinic, once again stepped up big.
The Serbian striker had a great chance to equalize in the 16th minute when he got in behind the Lazio defense but failed to beat keeper Marco Ballotta, who came off his line and knocked the shot away.
Three minutes later, Vucinic was handed another opportunity and he took advantage to tie the score at 1-1. Vucinic dropped a pass to Mancini, who quickly returned the favor 10-yards from goal. Vucinic then struck the ball with the inside of his left foot, directing the ball past the keeper and just inside the right post.
Roma then took the lead before halftime through another nice build up. Mancini and Mexes this time hooked up for a neat one-two at the edge of the area, with Mancini taking the return pass and firing a half volley past the keeper from the penalty spot.
It took Roma 11 minutes after the restart to grab a two-goal edge as Vucinic continued to give the Lazio defense problems. The Roma striker made a nice one-touch pass inside the box to Perrotta, who knocked the ball into the air to avoid the keeper, and then tapped it home into the empty net for a 3-1 Roma lead.
It was a great goal by Perrotta, but the momentum swung back in Lazio’s favor in the 69th minute. Roma’s Daniele de Rossi was called for a foul just outside the box on Lazio’s Mourad Meghni. Ledesma then made the most of the opportunity as he curled the free kick over the wall and off the bottom of the crossbar before it settled into the net.
Lazio now had just over 20 minutes to find the equalizer, and they continued to apply pressure to the Roma back line.
Although they enjoyed the better of the play over the remainder of the match, Lazio never provided a serious threat to the Roma goal, and they were left to suffer their third defeat in four Serie A matches.
In other action in Italy on Wednesday, AC Milan got two goals from Alberto Gilardino as they pounded Sampdoria 5-0, David Trezeguet scored three second- half goals as Juventus downed Empoli, league-leaders Inter Milan handed Genoa a 4-1 defeat and Christian Vieri scored in the 61st minute as Fiorentina slipped past Napoli 1-0. Atalanta finished 2-2 with Cagliari, Palermo and Parma shared the points in 1-1 fashion, Livorno scored twice in the last 11 minutes to beat Reggina 3-1, Juan Vargas allowed Catania Calcio to get a 1-1 draw with Siena as he scored in the 88th minute and Udinese claimed a 2-1 home win against Torino.
Popularity: 3% [?]
