Roma beat Sassuolo to close in on Serie A leaders Inter

Roma moved three points behind Serie A leaders Inter Milan on Saturday after a hard-fought 2-0 win over Sassuolo in Rome.

Down to the bare bones due to a host of injuries, Roma moved into third thanks to quickfire late goals from Manu Kone and Matias Soule which broke Sassuolo’s brave resistance.

Kone thumped home the opener with his head from Soule’s pinpoint cross in the 77th minute to spark delirium in the Stadio Olimpico.

And fans were sure of the three points for their team two minutes later when Soule calmly rolled home Stephan El Shaarawy’s delicate flick at the end of a flowing passing move.

Roma, who had seven players out of action and five academy players on the bench, are level on 39 points with second-placed AC Milan who play at Fiorentina on Sunday.

Both Milan and Inter, who host Napoli in the weekend’s headline clash at the San Siro, have a game in hand on Roma due to their participation in the Italian Super Cup in Saudi Arabia.

After Napoli, Inter face lowly Lecce at home on Wednesday while the next day Milan make the short trip to lakeside Lombard rivals Como, whose hopes of Champions League football were dented slightly by a 1-1 draw with 10-man Bologna.

Martin Baturina’s stunning late strike salvaged a point for Como who trailed to a goal from Nicolo Cambiaghi netted shortly after half-time. He was later sent off for violent conduct.

Como are four points behind fourth-placed Napoli, who play their game in hand against Parma in Naples on Wednesday.

Later Saturday, Atalanta bid to continue their revival under Raffaele Palladino with the visit of Torino.