Roma suffered a 1-0 defeat at Cagliari, with a second-half red card for Mehmet Celik leaving them vulnerable before Gianluca Gaetano’s late winner. The loss denied Roma the chance to narrow the gap to the Serie A leaders, Inter, leaving them fourth on 27 points.
Inter are on 30 points after their 4-0 win over Como on Saturday, a total that could be overhauled by Napoli in their evening game against Juventus, and by Milan at Torino on Monday.
During a largely uneventful first half, Roma became visibly frustrated by their shortage of clear opportunities. Their search for a breakthrough grew even more difficult early in the second half, as Celik was dismissed seven minutes after the restart for bringing down Michael Folorunsho just outside the box.
Shortly after, Cagliari came close to scoring as the Roma goalkeeper Mile Svilar blocked Adam Obert’s close-range effort.
Roma’s priority in the latter stages appeared to be securing a point, while Cagliari continued to carve out big chances and tempers flared between the sides, resulting in a brief scuffle in the 78th minute.
However, eight minutes from time, Cagliari finally broke through when Gaetano smartly chested down a corner and fired a half volley into the net from a tight angle. Another brief scuffle broke out in the closing minutes as the home side held on to win.
Roma’s city neighbours, Lazio, held Bologna to a 1-1 draw despite playing the final 10 minutes with 10 men after Mario Gila’s red card, while Jamie Vardy did not find the net but his Cremonese side beat Lecce 2-0.
Borussia Dortmund scored once in each half through Julian Brandt and Nico Schlotterbeck to ease past Hoffenheim 2-0 on Sunday and tighten their hold on third place in the Bundesliga.
Dortmund, who stretched their unbeaten league run to six matches, are third on 28 points, one behind second-placed RB Leipzig, 6-0 winners over Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday. The Bundesliga leaders, Bayern Munich, are on 37 points following their 5-0 demolition of Stuttgart. Hoffenheim, who suffered their first defeat after their own six-game unbeaten run, are fifth on 23.
Dortmund, who face Norway’s Bodø/Glimt in the Champions League on Wednesday with the Ruhr valley club on track for a top-eight finish in the league phase, had to wait until the 43rd minute for their first good move in an even first half, with Brandt finishing with a tap-in.
As Hoffenheim pushed for an equaliser Dortmund struck again, with Schlotterbeck’s off-balance shot on the hour mark. The Dortmund forward Serhou Guirassy should have added another late on when he was sent through by Yan Couto but his shot came back off the crossbar.
In Spain on Sunday night, Real Madrid will try to reduce Barcelona’s four-point lead at the top of the table when they host Celta Vigo.
