DZEKO SCORES DOUBLE AS ROMA DEFEAT FIORENTINA

Former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko grabbed a brace as AS Roma defeated Fiorentina 4-0.

The game was rescheduled as Italy played Wales in a rugby match in the Six Nations tournament. Roma hosted Fiorentina and defeated them to keep their title chasing ambition alive. If they had lost the game, they would have ended up in third place and seven points behind log leaders Juventus.

However Luciano Spalletti’s men ensured they won the match and continued the dream to upset the Turin-based club. The half-empty Stadio Olimpico did not deter the hosts and now they place just four points behind Juve. However, Juventus are set to face Crotone on Wednesday and victory there would extend the gap to seven points.

“As soon as he makes a mistake everyone jumps to criticize him, but tonight they can’t say anything about Dzeko. We’re having a great campaign, just like Napoli, but Juventus are having a wonderful season,” Spalletti said after the game.

Fiorentina started the game well with Federico Chiesa getting a chance after he went past onrushing goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny. Federico Fazio did a goalline clearance to keep the scoreline the same.

Dzeko was impressive during the clash, making a fool of Fiorentina defender Carlos Sanchez. The Bosnia international is now on 17 league goals, ahead of Napoli’s amazing player Dries Mertens.

Fiorentina were missing their striker Nikola Kalinic but were uninspiring throughout the encounter. De Rossi has two assists in the game as he helped Dzeko and Fazio score. He was involved in the third goal as his move to Kevin Strootman helped set up Radja Nainggolan’s goal.