Roma, Nov 1: Teenage substitute Cristian Volpato scored one and set up another as Roma snatched a 3-1 win at 10-man Hellas Verona in the Serie A.
Volpato put his side ahead with two minutes remaining and set up Stephan El Shaarawy in stoppage time as Roma leapfrogged city rival Lazio into fourth place, ahead of the capital derby next week.
Verona defender Pawel Dawidowicz scored the opener but was also sent off in the 36th minute. Nicolò Zaniolo leveled on the stroke of halftime.
Verona remained three points from safety.
Roma knew it could move into the Champions League spots with a win and had a gilt-edged opportunity to take the lead in the 19th minute when Tammy Abraham ran onto a throughball and rounded the goalkeeper but instead of going into the empty net his effort came off the base of the near post.
Instead, Verona went in front in the 26th with a well-worked set-piece. A corner was played to Davide Faraoni on the edge of the area and he played it through for Dawidowicz to bundle into the bottom right corner.
Dawidowicz went from hero to villain 10 minutes later, however, as he was sent off for a high and dangerous tackle on Zaniolo.
Zaniolo leveled in first-half stoppage time, slotting the rebound after another Abraham shot came off the post.
Roma hit the woodwork for a third time in the match eight minutes from time when Nemanja Matic headed a corner off the crossbar.
But it finally went in front six minutes later. Matic did well to pull the ball back for Volpato who fired into the bottom right corner.
The three points were assured when the 18-year-old Volpato threaded the ball through to El Shaarawy for an angled drive past Verona goalkeeper Lorenzo Montipò.
Monza played Bologna late in its first match since defender Pablo Marí was stabbed in a knife attack that took place in a Milan supermarket.
Marí, who is on loan from Arsenal, was released from hospital on Sunday after undergoing surgery. A supermarket employee, Luis Fernando Ruggieri, was killed in Thursday’s attack and there will be a minute’s silence before kickoff in tribute to him.
Monza players warmed up for the match wearing special T-shirts dedicated to Marí. (AP)
