ROME: A first-half penalty from Mattia Zaccagni and a late Felipe Anderson strike helped Lazio secure a 2-0 win at Sassuolo in Serie A on Sunday before fellow top-four chasers Atalanta hammered Salernitana 8-2 at home and Paulo Dybala grabbed both goals for AS Roma in their 2-0 home win over Fiorentina.

Level on 34 points, Lazio, Atalanta and Roma are fifth, sixth and seventh in the standings respectively, three points behind Inter Milan.

Lazio edged ahead in their encounter against lowly Sassuolo when Zaccagni converted his spot-kick on the verge of halftime, after Jeremy Toljan handled the ball in the penalty area.

Anderson made it 2-0 late into added time as he pinched the ball off Sassuolo defender Ruan Tressoldi, dribbled past goalkeeper Gianluca Pegolo and side-footed the ball into an open net.

Sassuolo, who have lost their last four league matches, are 17th in the standings, with 16 points from 18 games. Spezia leapfrogged Sassuolo into 15th place with a 1-0 win at Torino, while Bologna grabbed their first win of 2023 with a surprise 2-1 defeat of Udinese.

At the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia, Atalanta fired five goals past woeful Salernitana in the first half, with Ademola Lookman among the home side’s five different scorers.

Lookman added another in the second half and substitutes Ederson and Nadir Zortea also got on the scoresheet, while Boulaye Dia and Hans Nicolussi scored either side of the break for Salernitana.

Salernitana, who have not won a league game since October, are 16th.

Fiorentina played over an hour with 10 men after Brazilian defender Dodo was sent off.

World Cup winner Dybala volleyed Roma ahead from the edge of the area. His second came late on after Tammy Abraham burst free down the right and squared for the Argentine to tap home.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2023