Totti floors leaders Juve

Francesco Totti scored the goal that mattered for Roma as coach Aurelio Andreazzoli chalked up his first three-pointer since replacing Zdenek Zeman earlier this month following a 1-0 victory over leaders Juventus at the Olympic Stadium, last night.

Juventus were looking to extend their lead at the top to eight points over second-placed Napoli but found Roma in determined mood to get their season going again after a series of below-par performances saw them slipping down the Serie A standings.

The opening stages were played at a frenetic pace with Roma looking to make their home advantage count and Juventus soaking up the early pressure before launching quick raids inside the opponents’ half.

Pablo Osvaldo kept Gianluigi Buffon’s hands warm with a shot on the run and Roma keeper Maarten Stekelenburg was equally impressive with one-handed save to stop an Andrea Pirlo free-kick.

Home captain Francesco Totti was yellow-carded on the half-hour mark for a foul on Pirlo and that took most of the sting from Roma’s play for the rest of the half as team-mate Daniele de Rossi had also been cautioned earlier on for a bad tackle on wing-back Stephan Lichtsteiner, formerly of rivals Lazio.

There was a lively start to the second 45 minutes with Roma pushing forward with purpose and keeping Juve inside their own half.

However, it was Mirko Vucinic who went closest when his volley flew the wrong side of the Roma upright.

Before that, Osvaldo should have done better than heading straight into Buffon when totally unmarked. But, the deadlock was broken on 58 minutes, Totti hammering home with a fierce right-footed drive after picking a loose ball from well outside the Juventus penalty area.

The home side held control after Totti’s goal and their lead was hardly ever in jeopard y with Buffon experiencing a couple of anxious moments inside his box that could have added further damage.

In the other match yesterday, Palermo moved off the bottom with a 1-1 draw at mid-table Chievo but the result leaves the Sicilians still seeking their first away win this season.

Palermo are now in 19th spot on 19 points from 25 games, a point above Siena, who play tomorrow, and three from the safety zone while Chievo move up two places to 11th on 29 points.

Palermo, who had not won in 10 matches, took the lead in the fifth minute through former Blackburn Rovers midfielder Mauro Formica, who swivelled on a poor clearance to net his first goal for the club since signing in January.

Chievo got a barely deserved equaliser when Cyril Thereau converted a penalty in the 55th after Santiago Garcia handled Nicholas Frey’s header.