Osvaldo seals first victory for Roma
Reuters - Sunday 25 September 2011, 21:15
MILAN - AS Roma broke their duck under
new coach Luis Enrique on Sunday, beating Parma 1-0 away to give
the Spaniard his first win in charge at the sixth attempt.
Striker Pablo Osvaldo's second-half header was enough for
ambitious Roma who still had to withstand a late pounding from
the hosts.
Juventus, who drew 1-1 at Catania, stayed unbeaten
and share the Serie A lead with Udinese, who are also undefeated
after a goalless stalemate at Cagliari. The two sides have eight
points from four games.
Promoted Atalanta remain the only other unbeaten team after
a 2-1 win over Novara with goals from Matias Schelotto and Luca
Cigarini.
They have the best playing record with three wins and a draw
but have only four points after having six deducted before the
start of the season in a Serie B match-fixing scandal.
Genoa's unbeaten record ended when they lost 2-1 at Chievo,
who also beat Napoli in midweek.
Striker Rodrigo Palacio, recalled by Argentina last week
after a three-year absence, put Genoa ahead just after half-time
with his fourth goal in as many games.
Sergio Pellisier levelled for Chievo in the 74th minute and
Davide Moscardelli scored a stoppage-time winner.
Siena beat Lecce 3-0 helped by a brace from Emanuele Calaio
after Mattia Destro opened the scoring, while Lazio and Palermo
played out a goalless draw.
ATTACKING FOOTBALL
Luis Enrique has promised to turn Roma into an exciting,
attacking outfit but Europa League elimination at the hands of
Slovan Bratislava followed by failure to win their first three
Serie A games quickly put him under pressure.
The only excitement in a dismal first half came when
Francesco Totti's shot was pushed onto the post by Antonio
Mirante.
The second half was a different story as Osvaldo headed in
from Aleandro Rosi's cross five minutes after the re-start.
Roma, who have five points, controlled much of the play but
lost their grip towards the end.
Parma poured forward but a combination of dreadful finishing
and some desperate defending from Nicolas Burdisso and Gabriel
Heinze kept Roma's goal intact.
Juventus fell behind after 21 minutes at Catania, Alejandro
Gomez supplying a low cross which was turned into the net by his
fellow Argentine Gonzalo Bergessio.
Serbian striker Milos Krasic equalised four minutes after
the re-start with a right-foot shot which was badly misjudged by
goalkeeper Mariano Andujar, another member of the Argentine
contingent in the Sicilian side.
Juve had a let-off late in the game when a mistake by
Giorgio Chiellini set up a chance for David Suazo but the
Honduran was foiled by Gianluigi Buffon