Bologna remains in contention for Champions League place with a win at Lazio

ROME (AP) — New Roma coach Daniele De Rossi stretched his record to four wins in six matches with a 3-0 victory at Frosinone in Serie A on Sunday.

Using more offensive tactics than Jose Mourinho, his predecessor, De Rossi has moved Roma up from ninth to sixth place to put the Giallorossi back in contention for a spot in Europe.

Roma’s only loss under De Rossi was a wild 4-2 defeat to Italian leader Inter Milan last weekend.

Roma took the lead late in the first half when 18-year-old center back Dean Huijsen took the ball at midfield and showed off some fancy dribbling skills before unleashing a long shot into the top corner.

Huijsen, who is on loan from Juventus, mimicked Cristiano Ronaldo’s leaping goal celebration and then put a finger to his lips to silence the crowd, drawing a yellow card. Huijsen had initially planned to join Frosinone before Roma called last month.

De Rossi then removed Huijsen for the second half.

“I couldn’t risk having an 18-year-old with a yellow card out there,” De Rossi said before commenting on Huijsen’s gesture to the crowd. “He lost 45 minutes of playing in Serie A. He won’t do it again.”

Midway through the second half, Sardar Azmoun doubled the advantage by turning in a rebound of a shot from Bryan Cristante. And then Leandro Paredes converted a penalty after a handball was called on a shot from Tommaso Baldanzi.

There was more encouraging news from Roma when center back Chris Smalling came on for the final minutes in his first appearance since September due to a knee injury.

MILAN'S MISSED CHANCE

Ten-man AC Milan was beaten 4-2 at neighboring Monza to waste a chance at leapfrogging Juventus into second place.

Warren Bondo scored his first Serie A goal in the 90th after Christian Pulisic had set up one and scored another to make the match level.

Matteo Pessina and Dany Mota scored first-half goals for Monza before Olivier Giroud pulled one back for Milan midway through the second half.

Milan was reduced to 10 men early in the second half when Luka Jovic was sent off for slapping Armando Izzo in the face.

It marked the first time that Milan conceded two first-half goals in Serie A since a 5-1 derby loss to Inter in September.

Even with 10 men, Milan tried desperately to get back into the match and Giroud redirected a cross from Pulisic to cut the deficit. Then Pulisic scored from a sharp angle.

But Bondo quickly restored Monza's advantage with a powerful shot and then Lorenzo Colombo sealed the win with another goal for the hosts in stoppage time.

Monza goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio came off after clashing heads with teammate Andrea Carboni in the first half.

BOLOGNA 'S WINNING STREAK

Bologna remained in contention for a Champions League place with a 2-1 comeback victory at Lazio.

Oussama El Azzouzi and Joshua Zirkzee scored for Bologna after Gustav Isasksen had given Lazio an early advantage.

Bologna’s fourth straight victory moved it back into fifth place, level on points with fourth-place Atalanta. Lazio remained eighth.

Lazio complained to league officials about the early lunchtime kickoff coming four days after a victory over Bayern Munich in the first leg of the Champions League last 16.

Fiorentina was held to a 1-1 draw at Empoli in a Tuscan derby, and Udinese and Cagliari also drew 1-1.

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