• AS Roma drop more points in their pursuit of leaders Juventus, drawing 1-1 with Empoli FC.• Empoli open the scoring through Massimo Maccarone's 39th-minute penalty.• Kostas Manolas sent off for conceding the spot kick; Empoli's Riccardo Saponara (45) also sees red.• Maicon restores parity after the break, slotting in a pass from Miralem Pjanić.• The Giallorossi, who trail Juve by six points, have drawn their last four Serie A matches.• Genoa CFC remain three points behind sixth-placed ACF Fiorentina after the teams' 1-1 draw.• A shot by Genoa's Stefano Sturaro hits the upr...
Tag: roma
Juventus punish Chievo, Roma sink Sampdoria
Serie A Leaders Juventus chalked up their 20th win of the campaign by dispatching AC Chievo Verona 3-1, before closest rivals AS Roma swept aside UC Sampdoria 3-0.The result in Turin seldom looked in doubt from the moment Kwadwo Asamoah opened his account for the season after 17 minutes. Italy midfielder Claudio Marchisio then consolidated the advantage before Martín Cáceres's own goal six minutes into the second half revived Chievo's hopes.Buoyancy soon turned to despondency, however, when Fernando Llorente registered the Bianconeri's third. That took the leaders 12 points clear at the summit, though Roma later reduced the deficit. Mattia Destro put Sampdoria on the back foot close to half-time and added a second before the hour mark, after Miralem
Cup successes for Madrid, Roma and City
Copa del ReyReal Madrid CF took a significant step towards the last four of the Copa del Rey after a first-half Karim Benzema strike earned them a 1-0 quarter-final first leg victory at RCD Espanyol.On 25 minutes, Benzema connected with an Álvaro Arbeloa centre that grazed Gareth Bale. Cristiano Ronaldo had earlier struck a post, and he, Benzema and Arbeloa all spurned good chances to double Madrid's lead as the game progressed. Sergio García went close for Espanyol, and captain Iker Casillas denied Jhon Córdoba later on. The result maintains Madrid's 100% record in 2014, and they have also yet to concede a goal in six games this year.The tie concludes in Madrid next Tuesday, with the remaining quarter-final openers