MILAN — Alessandro Florenzi's perfectly-executed bicycle kick inspired second-placed AS Roma to a 4-0 win over Genoa in Serie A Sunday although it did it little good as rampant leader Juventus won its 11th league game in a row. The defending champion survived a difficult opening half hour and had goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon to thank as it came from behind to win 4-1 at Cagliari. Cagliari forward Mauricio Pinilla scored and was later sent off for the Sardinians while Fernando Llorente scored twice for Juventus which has only dropped five points this season. Third-placed Napoli also won comfortably, beating Hellas Verona 3-0 away with goals from Dries Mertens, Lorenzo Insigne and Blerim Dzemaili. Fiorentina, sorely missing Serie A topscorer Giuseppe Rossi with another knee injury, lost ground in a goalless draw at Torino. At the halfway point in the championship, Juventus has 52 points from 19 games, Roma 44 and Napoli 42, while Fiorentina, still waiting for striker Mario Gomez to recover from a knee injury, is a further five behind in fourth. Florenzi's opening 25th-minute goal for Roma was the day's highlight and not even the player seemed to believe it as he ran to the touchline with his hands on his head. Genoa appeared to have survived the danger when a Francesco Totti free kick hit the wall but a defender lofted the ball into the area and Florenzi, with his back to goal, met it with a majestic overhead shot which went in off the foot of the post. Roma stalwart Totti added the second with a deflected shot on the half hour, Maicon finished off a counter-attack two minutes before the break for the third and defender Mehdi Benatia completed the scoring early in the second half, the Moroccan's fifth goal of the season. Genoa's misery was completed with a bizarre sending-off for midfielder Matuzalem, who was given a second yellow card for gesturing to Roma fans as he was being substituted. His replacement Isaac Cofie, who had already run onto the pitch, had to be taken off, although the Ghanaian was brought on again four minutes later for Andrea Bertolacci. Barca, Atletico content with draw In Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid were satisfied with a share of the spoils after they cancelled each other out in an intense 0-0 draw Saturday that moved the joint La Liga leaders on to 50 points at the midpoint of the season. The stalemate at the Calderon, during which genuine scoring chances were few and far between, means Barca still leads on goal difference after 19 matches but it opens the way for third-placed Real Madrid to close to within three points if it can beat mid-table Espanyol late Sunday. Barca coach Gerardo Martino was forced at halftime to bring on Lionel Messi, who only returned to action Wednesday after a two-month injury absence, after Andres Iniesta suffered a knock to his left knee. However, not even the introduction of the Argentine World Player of the Year or Brazil forward Neymar, who missed Wednesday's King's Cup game against Getafe due to illness, with around 20 minutes left broke the deadlock as neither made much impact on a resolute Atletico defense. “The point is positive if we consider that we played at the stadium of a team that had maximum points at home,” Martino told a post-match news conference. “We wanted to win the match but we have nothing to reproach ourselves for,” added the Argentine. Martino said he was pleased with the way his players prevented Atletico from launching their trademark counter attacks and their effectiveness in closing down their opponents. Atletico coach Diego Simeone, a compatriot of Martino and Messi who has transformed the team into challengers in Spain and Europe since taking over at the end of 2011, singled out forwards Diego Costa and David Villa for their work rate. Also, Athletic Bilbao maintained its grip on fourth by demolishing Almeria 6-1 while Valencia's season-long slide continued with a 2-1 defeat at Celta Vigo. — Agencies
