Gervinho fires double in Roma rout
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E-mail Xinhua, September 30, 2013
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AS Roma extended their perfect start to the Serie A season with a commanding 5-0 defeat of Bologna. |
Roma thrashed Bologna 5-0 to reclaim the top spot of the Italian Serie A on Sunday.
Roma's sixth successive victory came smoothly after they went ahead on eight minutes when Bologna's goalkeeper Gianluca Curci parried Miralem Pjanic's free-kick and Alessandro Florenzi raced ahead to head home.
Gervinho got Roma's second nine minutes later with a powerful low effort, before Mehdi Benatia's close-range volley gave them a 3-0 half-time lead.
Close-season signing Gervinho scored his second of the match just past the hour mark, and Adem Ljajic completed the rout in the closing stages.
With the win, Rudi Garcia's men leapfrogged Napoli and Juventus back into first place in the table.
Roma head coach Rudi Garcia was pleased to see his side play with "joy and enthusiasm".
"There is no such thing as a perfect team in football, as there is always something to improve," he said. "The players went out there with joy and enthusiasm. We know there are talents in this squad and we saw them tonight."
Earlier in the day, champions Juventus beat Torino 1-0 in the Turin derby thanks to a contraversial goal from Paul Pogba.
The defending champions had to wait until the 54th minute when the France international headed home a rebound from close range after Carlos Tevez had nodded Leonardo Bonucci's flick onto the bar, with replays suggesting that the Argentine striker was in an offside position.
Meanwhile, Inter extended their unbeaten start to the season at Cagliari, but could only pick up a 1-1 draw despite having the better of the contest.
Ishak Belfodil and Ricky Alvarez both went close for Inter in the first half, but it was the latter's half-time replacement - Mauro Icardi - who eventually opened the scoring.
With 75 minutes on the clock, the Argentine striker headed in from close range after an excellent run and cross from Yuto Nagatomo.
However, Radja Nainggolan cut in from the left and saw his low shot deflected past Samir Handanovic with just seven minutes left, earning Digeo Lopez's side a point.
Udinese's erratic start to the campaign continued as they were defeated 2-0 by a German Denis-inspired Atalanta, with their former striker scoring both goals.
Hellas Verona's impressive return to Serie A goes on thanks to a 2-1 victory over visitors and fellow promoted side Livorno, while Sassuolo picked up a 2-2 draw at home to Lazio - their second consecutive draw since losing 7-0 to Inter.
And in Sunday's other game, Catania picked up their first win of the season as Jaroslav Plasil and Lucas Castro gave them a 2-0 triumph over Chievo.
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