Roma beat Parma 4-2 on Wednesday evening at the Stadio Olimpico in Serie A in a frantic and entertaining game.
Gervinho opened the scoring for Roma early on before Afriyie Acquah levelled minutes later only for Francesco Totti to restore the lead immediately before Miralem Pjanic and Rodrigo Taddei both added to the Giallorossi’s total in the second half to wrap up the win. Jonathan Biabiany nabbed a consolation at the death for the Crociati.
Bizarrely, the game started with a throw-in to Parma as the game picked up in the ninth minute from where it left off in February.
The game started quickly with Acquah and Ezequiel Scheletto both enjoying chances for Parma before Roma’s Maicon tested Crociati goalkeeper Antonio Mirante on the volley.
Roma opened the scoring in the 12th minute after Gervinho broke down the left-flank before cutting inside to Totti who played in Mattia Destro whose shot rebounded off the post to Gervinho who simply had to tap it into the open goal.
A minute leader Gervinho hit the back of the net again on the volley but the goal was correctly disallowed for offside.
Acquah equalised in the 15th minute for the visitors after controlling a chipped ball into the area and shielding the ball from a crowd of Giallorossi defenders before turning to slot the ball past a stationary Morgan De Sanctis for his first goal with the Ducali.
Totti hit back to give Roma the lead again a minute later with a first-time strike after Pjanic ran down the right-flank before cutting it back to the 37-year-old who calmly glided the ball into the top left corner.
The game continued at a frantic pace with Schelotto working his way into Roma area but his low drive across goal was cut out by Mehdi Benatia before it reached Amauri.
In the 41st minute a Destro header from a Maicon cross beat Mirante only for it to thunder off the crossbar.
Pjanic scored in the 49th minute on his birthday after Gervinho wormed his way through the Parma defence only to be dispossessed as he pulled the trigger but the ball popped out to Pjanic as he arrived late and the Bosnian international passed the ball into bottom corner to double the Lupi’s advantage.
Roma came close again five minutes later when Totti tested Mirante but Destro could only blast over on the rebound.
Parma started to see more of the ball after 65 minutes but could’t find a way through Roma’s defence.
Roma almost created an opening for Taddei in the 73rd minute but the Brazilian couldn’t reach Florenzi’s cute volleyed pass.
Taddei finished Parma off in the 82 minute by nodding the ball into the far post from a corner before climbing a fence to celebrate with the fans
Biabiany scored a great consolation at the end for Parma with a placed effort from the edge of the area into the top right corner.
The win reduces Roma’s distance from Juventus to eight points.
