Roma edged Fiorentina to earn a 2-1 win at the Stadio Artemio Franchi on Wednesday night.
Leonardo Spinazzola scored at both ends – a fine effort opening the scoring before putting into his own goal shortly after – and Amadou Diawara struck late to seal the win for Paulo Fonseca’s Giallorossi.
After a slow start, the first shot on target finally came from the Viola in the 27th minute when Franck Ribery sent Dusan Vlahovic on goal, but the latter only managed to send his attempt at Pau Lopez. Lorenzo Pellegrini had an effort at the other end, but nothing that troubled Bartlomiej Dragowski.
It didn’t take long for the visitors to mark the second half. In the 48th minute, unusually, the provider and the scorer were defenders. Gianluca Mancini chipped a pass into the box towards Spinazzola who volleyed home a nice finish.
That glory for the 27-year-old lasted for just ten minutes as he scored another goal, only this time at the wrong end. Cristian Biraghi played a powerful cross into the box and Spinazzola, in an attempt to keep the ball away from an opponent, turned it into his own net for Fiorentina to level.
To add salt to the wounds, Roma’s top scorer Jordan Veretout was injured and taken off right after the goal.
VAR eventually made the Giallorossi the happier of the two sides as Diawara had the ball in the net after getting on the end of a cross from Rick Karsdorp, only to be thwarted by the offside flag. The decision to rule the strike out, though, was overruled and the goal stood.
Roma sit fifth, two points behind both Atalanta and Juventus, while Fiorentina are 14th and just five points above the relegation zone.