Roma were held to their fourth successive Serie A draw, but reduced (at least temporarily) the arrears on league leaders Juventus to six points with a 1-1 draw against Empoli at the Olimpico last night.

Massimo Maccarone scored from the penalty spot for Empoli after Kostas Manolas was sent off in the 38th minute. Riccardo Saponara was also shown a red card on the stroke of half-time as both sides ended the game with 10 men.

Maicon levelled just shy of the hour mark, but Roma could not find a winner and could find themselves nine points adrift at the top of the table if Juve win at Udinese today.

It was a poor performance from the Giallorossi, and they could have no complaints at going into the break a goal behind.

That goal arrived from the penalty spot after Manolas fouled Saponara as he was preparing to shoot with only Morgan De Sanctis to beat.

The result was a red card for the Greek defender and a chance which Maccarone took, driving the ball emphatically to the left of De Sanctis.

Roma’s uphill struggle to recover was levelled off slightly for them in first-half stoppage time when Saponara was shown a second yellow card for handball.

The transformation in Roma was evident from the opening ex-changes of the second half with Maicon grabbing the equaliser on 57 minutes when he was left unmarked to stroke the ball into the far corner with his weaker left foot from Miralem Pjanic’s pass.

Davide Astori’s header grazed the top of the crossbar and Radja Nainggolan had a few sighters as Roma in vain searched for a winner.

Earlier, Fiorentina picked up a point in their first game without Juan Cuadrado claiming a 1-1 draw at 10-man Genoa.

An own goal from Fiorentina goalkeeper Ciprian Tatarusanu gave a strong Genoa side the lead, but Gonzalo Rodriguez levelled 10 minutes into the second half.

Genoa had to play the final nine minutes with only 10 men after Nicolas Burdisso was sent off.

Serie A

Genoa 1
Tatarusanu 14og;
Fiorentina 1
Rodriguez 55;

HT: 1-0. Att: 20,000.
Red card: Burdisso (G) 81.

Roma 1
Maicon 57;
Empoli 1
Maccarone 39 pen;

HT: 0-1. Att: 33,621.
Red cards: Manolas (R) 38; Saponara (E) 45.

  P W D L F A Pts
Juventus 20 15 4 1 44 9 49
Roma 21 12 7 2 34 16 43
Napoli 20 10 6 4 36 25 36
Lazio 20 10 4 6 36 23 34
Sampdoria 20 8 10 2 26 18 34
Fiorentina 21 8 8 5 29 20 32
Genoa 21 7 8 6 29 26 29
Palermo 20 6 9 5 32 32 27
Udinese 20 7 6 7 25 27 27
Inter 20 6 8 6 29 26 26
Milan 20 6 8 6 28 25 26
Sassuolo 20 5 10 5 24 28 25
Torino 20 6 7 7 17 21 25
Verona 20 6 6 8 22 32 24
Empoli 21 3 11 7 19 26 20
Atalanta 20 4 8 8 15 25 20
Cagliari 20 4 7 9 27 38 19
Chievo 20 4 6 10 14 24 18
Cesena 20 2 6 12 19 40 12
Parma (-1) 20 3 1 16 19 42 9

Playing today – 15.00
Atalanta vs Cagliari
Cesena vs Lazio
Chievo vs Napoli
Milan vs Parma - 20.45
Palermo vs Verona
Sassuolo vs Inter - 12.30
Torino vs Sampdoria
Udinese vs Juventus

Next fixtures

Tuesday: Coppa Italia QF – 20.45 Roma vs Fiorentina.

Wednesday: Coppa Italia QF – 20.45 Napoli vs Inter.

Saturday: Serie A – 18.00 Verona vs Torino; 20.45 Juventus vs Milan.

Sunday: Serie A – 12.30 Fiorentina vs Atalanta. 15.00 Cagliari vs Roma; Empoli vs Cesena; Parma vs Chievo; Napoli vs Udinese; Sampdoria vs Sassuolo. 20.45 Inter vs Palermo.

Feb. 9: Serie A – 20.45 Lazio vs Genoa.

Serie B
Bologna vs Pescara - 0-0
Brescia vs Entella - 3-0
Carpi vs Crotone - 2-1
Catania vs Perugia - 2-0
Cittadella vs Trapani - 1-0
Latina vs Livorno - 3-2
Pro Vercelli vs Modena - 1-1
Ternana vs Vicenza - 0-2
Virtus Lanciano vs Varese - 1-2

Tomorrow
Spezia vs Avellino - 20.30

Standings: Carpi 49; Bologna 41; Livorno 37; Spezia, Frosinone 35; Lanciano, Vicenza 34; Avellino 33; Pescara, Pro Vercelli 32; Ternana 31; Modena, Perugia, Bari, Trapani 30; Brescia 29; Catania 27; Cittadella, Varese (-3) 26; Entella 25; Latina, Crotone 24.

Lega Pro

Group A: Lumezzane vs Sassari 1-3; Cremonese vs Novara 0-1; Monza vs Sudtirol 0-1; Feralpisalo vs Pavia 3-4.

Group B: Pistoiese vs Reggiana 0-4; Lucchese vs Prato 0-0; Ancona vs Teramo 0-0; Forli vs Santarcangelo 0-2; Pisa vs Savona 2-0.

Group C: Ischia vs Martina 1-0; Catanzaro vs Melfi 2-1; Foggia vs Benevento 2-2; Salernitana vs V. Lamezia 2-2; Reggina vs Lecce 2-1.

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