Football
PA Sport 7y

Roma see off Lazio in Rome derby, AC Milan leave it late against Crotone

A rare goal from Kevin Strootman helped Roma reclaim second place in the Serie A table as they beat rivals Lazio 2-0 in the Rome derby on Sunday.

The injury-prone Netherlands international has not been prolific since moving to the capital three years ago, but he picked a great time to score his seventh league goal for Roma, who have held the bragging rights at the Stadio Olimpico since before Strootman arrived.

However, after chipping Lazio goalkeeper Federico Marchetti for the Derby della Capitale opener, Strootman's disrespectful actions towards the designated home team sparked a brawl and got substitute Danilo Cataldi sent off for reacting badly.

Things soon went from bad to worse for Lazio who then conceded a second Roma goal to Radja Nainggolan.

Roma's hardcore fans decided to boycott the match, leaving their Curva Sud territory empty over what they perceive to be overzealous oppression from the authorities, who have installed a security barrier in an attempt to better contain warring ultras.

Gianluca Lapadula's 86th-minute winner spared AC Milan's blushes as they came from a goal down to secure a 2-1 home victory over struggling Crotone in Serie A's early kickoff on Sunday.

Diego Falcinelli had given the visitors a shock 26th-minute lead and, although Mario Pasalic levelled four minutes before half-time, the top-flight debutants looked set to pick up a point after goalkeeper Alex Cordaz brilliantly saved M'Baye Niang's penalty.

But Lapadula had other ideas and swept home his first San Siro goal four minutes from time to get Vincenzo Montella's side over the line.

Sampdoria closed to within three points of Torino in the table with a 2-0 victory at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.

Torino could have gone fourth with a win, but instead it was Sampdoria who made the move, climbing to eighth place, one spot behind their opponents.

Edgar Barreto scored the opening goal six minutes after half-time, finding the net after Torino failed properly to clear a corner.

Torino pushed for an equaliser but could not find it and in the fifth minute of injury time Patrik Schick, who had only just come on as a substitute, added Sampdoria's second.

Khouma Babacar's last-gasp goal in a 2-1 Fiorentina win reminded new Palermo boss Eugenio Corini just how hard it will be to help the Sicilians to avoid relegation.

Roberto De Zerbi was sacked this week, with Corini promptly hired and tasked with ending a run of seven-straight defeats and keeping Palermo afloat.

It was an inauspicious start for the visitors to Florence as Federico Bernardeschi's 32nd-minute penalty put them under the cosh once more.

Mato Jajalo provided hope with his stellar free kick just four minutes after the break, but Babacar broke Rosanero hearts with a header at the end.

Sassuolo recorded their first win in seven league matches as two penalties before the break set them on their way to a 3-0 home victory over Empoli.

Lorenzo Pellegrini opened the scoring from the spot in the 22nd minute after Lukasz Skorupski's foul on Antonino Ragusa.

Federico Ricci then also made a successful conversion from 12 yards following a handball in the area by Daniele Croce, with Ragusa subsequently extending his side's lead with a close-range strike eight minutes into the second half.

The triumph sees Sassuolo move up from 16th to 14th in the table, while Empoli remain 17th.

Gianluca Caprari's late leveller earned relegation-threatened Pescara their share of the spoils from a 1-1 draw with Cagliari.

Marco Borriello opened the scoring in the first half for Cagliari on the east coast, before they then had Davide Di Gennaro dismissed nine minutes later.

Ten-man Cagliari looked like holding on for all three points until Caprari found an equaliser for Pescara in injury time.

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