Palermo’s Osvaldo Barreto (left) keeps Miralem Pjanic, of Roma, away from the ball.Palermo produced another fine performance but could not go beyond a 1-1 draw with championship contenders Roma at home, last night.
Roma could not afford to drop further behind in the Serie A title race following a 2-2 draw with derby rivals Lazio which left the Giallorossi three points behind leaders Juventus.
With Daniele de Rossi and Radja Nainggolan out, Roma struggled to contain Palermo in midfield as the Sicilians raced into a one-goal lead in the early minutes of the match following a Paulo Dybala goal who pounced on a defensive error before hitting his shot past Morgan de Sanctis.
The goal was the 21-year-old Argentine’s 10th in the league this season.
Roma looked more motivated after the break and on 54 minutes Mattia Destro was on the right spot to tap home after a Miralem Pjanic free-kick was nodded his way by Kevin Strootman inside the box.
Roma are two points behind Juventus who play their game in hand tonight at home to Verona.
In yesterday’s other match, Inter’s Slovenian goalkeeper Samir Handanovic made three terrific saves to help secure a point as they were held to a 0-0 draw at lowly Empoli.
The result moved ninth-placed Inter within five points of third-placed Lazio, who occupy the final Champions League qualifying spot and host Napoli today.
A soporific first half saw Empoli dominate possession without causing any real danger and it was Inter who almost scored after the break when Nemanja Vidic came close with a header from a corner in the 52nd minute.
Six minutes later Rodrigo Palacio almost gave the visitors the lead when he nodded Hernanes’s cross just wide. Empoli res-ponded with three attempts in 10 minutes that Handanovic turned aside.
After a spectacular save kept out a close-range shot by Manuel Pucciarelli, the former Udinese keeper used his feet to again deny Pucciarelli and his fingertips to stop a Piotr Zielinski effort.
“Everyone tries to help out in the best way possible,” Handa-novic told Sky Sport Italia.
“It was important to come away from here with a clean sheet as we didn’t really create many chances to win. And when you can’t win a game you have to accept a draw.”
Inter are level on 26 points with city rivals Milan and Palermo while Empoli, who have drawn six of their last seven games, are 15th on 19 points, four above the drop zone.
Serie A
Played yesterday
Empoli 0
Inter 0
Att: 10,000.
Palermo 1
Dybala 2;
Roma 1
Destro 54;
HT: 1-0. Att: 16,500.
Playing today – 15.00
Cesena vs Torino
Chievo vs Fiorentina
Genoa vs Sassuolo
Juventus vs Verona - 20.45
Lazio vs Napoli - 12.30
Milan vs Atalanta
Parma vs Sampdoria
Udinese vs Cagliari
Standings
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Juventus | 18 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 38 | 9 | 43 |
| Roma | 19 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 32 | 14 | 41 |
| Lazio | 18 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 33 | 21 | 31 |
| Napoli | 18 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 33 | 24 | 30 |
| Sampdoria | 18 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 23 | 17 | 30 |
| Fiorentina | 18 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 25 | 17 | 27 |
| Genoa | 18 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 24 | 20 | 27 |
| Milan | 18 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 27 | 21 | 26 |
| Inter | 19 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 29 | 25 | 26 |
| Palermo | 19 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 31 | 31 | 26 |
| Sassuolo | 18 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 20 | 23 | 24 |
| Udinese | 18 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 21 | 24 | 23 |
| Verona | 18 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 21 | 28 | 21 |
| Empoli | 19 | 3 | 10 | 6 | 17 | 23 | 19 |
| Torino | 18 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 19 | 19 |
| Chievo | 18 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 13 | 20 | 18 |
| Atalanta | 18 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 14 | 24 | 17 |
| Cagliari | 18 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 23 | 35 | 15 |
| Parma (-1) | 18 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 18 | 39 | 9 |
| Cesena | 18 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 15 | 36 | 9 |
Next fixtures
Tuesday: Coppa Italia, Last 16 – 21.00 Roma vs Empoli.
Wednesday: Coppa Italia, Last 16 – 18.00 Fiorentina vs Atalanta; 21.00 Inter vs Sampdoria.
Thursday: Coppa Italia, Last 16 – 21.00 Napoli vs Udinese.
Saturday: Serie A – 18.00 Cagliari vs Sassuolo. 20.45 Lazio vs Milan.
Sunday: Serie A – 15.00 Verona vs Atalanta; Inter vs Torino; Juventus vs Chievo; Parma vs Cesena; Sampdoria vs Palermo. 20.45 Fiorentina vs Roma.
Monday, Jan. 26: Serie A – 19.00 Empoli vs Udinese. 21.00 Napoli vs Genoa.
Serie B
Bari vs Entella - 0-0
Brescia vs Frosinone - 3-1
Cittadella vs Modena - 1-1
Latina vs Vicenza - 0-0
Pro Vercelli vs Avellino - 1-1
Spezia vs Varese - 1-1
Ternana vs Crotone - 2-1
Trapani vs Pescara - 2-4
Virtus Lanciano vs Catania - 3-0
Playing today
Carpi vs Livorno - 18.00
Tomorrow
Bologna vs Perugia - 20.30
Standings
Carpi 43; Frosinone, Bologna, Spezia 34; Virtus Lanciano, Avellino 33; Pescara, Livorno, Pro Vercelli 31; Trapani 30; Perugia 29; Modena, Ternana, Vicenza 28; Brescia, Bari 26; Entella 25; Varese (-3) 23; Latina, Catania, Crotone 21; Cittadella 20.