Match report from - GOAL Catania 4-1 Roma: Sicilians decide Scudetto race The relegation candidates condemned the guests to second spot in the table following an impressive showing against Rudi Garcias men Roma handed the Serie A title to Juventus after they fell to a shock 4-1 defeat to Catania on Sunday. Mariano Julio Izco netted twice before Francesco Totti pegged one back before the break, but goals from Gonzalo Bergessio and Pablo Barrientos in the second half saw the hosts emerge victorious. Catania started the match the better side and threatened a number of times through Bergessio before Izco eventually gave them the lead halfway through the first half. Sebastian Leto set up the Argentine midfielder and he beat Morgan De Sanctis with a fine finish. The hosts continued to dominate after the opener and once more Izco doubled the Sicilians lead shortly after following some good work from Leto and Bergessio. Roma refused to give up, though, and pegged one back before the interval. Daniele De Rossi set up Alessandro Florenzi, who reached the unmarked Totti and the experienced attacker had no trouble finding the net from close range. Bergessio could have made it three shortly after half-time after Izco robbed Miralem Pjanic of the ball, but he failed to get his shot on target. Nevertheless, Bergessio did get his goal after all in the 56th minute when he tapped home a rebound after De Sanctis was unable to adequately deal with Letos shot. Michel Bastos nearly made it 3-2 halfway through the second half with a powerful long range strike, but Alberto Frison pushed the Brazilians shot wide for a corner. Bergessio then turned provider for Barrientos with 10 minutes to go and the 29-year-old showed his class with a superb shot from outside the area to make it 4-1. Sundays victory sees Catania move into 19th place with 26 points from 36 games, while Roma know they will now have to settle for second spot after surrendering their title challenge.
Posted on: Mon, 05 May 2014 01:28:23 +0000