Roma down Lazio, Inter rout Sassuolo

Second-half goals from Federico Balzaretti and Adem Ljajic handed Roma a precious 2-0 derby win over Lazio to send the Giallorossi top of the Italian Serie A on Sunday. Roma go temporarily top with a two-point cushion over Inter, who had gone top earlier on Sunday following a 7-0 rout away to Sassuolo. Fiorentina, in third, and fourth-placed Juventus are also just two points shy of Rudi Garcia's league leaders, with Napoli one point adrift in fifth. Goals from Fernandez Mati and Giuseppe Rossi secured Fiorentina's 2-0 away win at Atalanta while Juventus saw Carlos Tevez level Fabrizio Cacciatore's opener for Verona and Spain international Fernando Llorente score his maiden goal on his debut to secure a nervy 2-1 home win for the champions. Roma, who finished seventh last season, have enjoyed a positive start to the campaign under French coach Garcia and their run continued with a dominant but at times frustrating performance at the Olympic Stadium. Garcia's men dominated a busy first half and after Miroslav Klose spurned a chance just after the restart for Lazio, Roma took the lead just after the hour. Francesco Totti delivered for Balzaretti from deep on the right and the defender sent a superb first-time strike past beaten Lazio goalkeeper Federico Marchetti. Lazio suffered a blow when second-half substitute Andre Dias saw red for a blatant foul on Totti on 81 minutes. Roma secured the points on the stroke of full-time Ljajic converted from the spot after he had been fouled by Cristian Ledesma. Juve, however, continued to dominate and were soon back on level terms. Paul Pogba first saw an effort from a corner saved off the line and spirits were raised on 40 minutes when Tevez ran on to Leonardo Bonucci's smart through ball to beat Rafael with a superb angled drive. Juventus were unlucky when Tevez's long-range strike came off Rafael's left-hand post, rolled across the goalline and then bounced off the opposite upright. However salvation came thanks to Llorente, who on the stroke of half-time muscled past his marker at the back post to head Vidal's right-wing cross past the keeper. Earlier, Diego Milito scored twice on his long-awaited return from injury as Inter Milan thumped promoted Serie A strugglers Sassuolo 7-0. Argentinian striker Milito had been sidelined for the past seven months after suffering a horrific knee injury at the start of the year. But a week after also making Mazzarri's squad for a 1-1 draw at home to Juventus, he made his first appearance since damaging his anterior cruciate ligament in February when he replaced Rodrigo Palacio nine minutes into the second half. He scored barely ten minutes after coming on and added a second seven minutes from the final whistle. "On a scale of one to ten, today is worth more than ten," said Milito. "We put in a great performance. It's an extraordinary squad and I want to say thank you to everyone who supported me in this difficult time, from my friends and family to the physios at the club." Elsewhere, Torino saw off Bologna 2-1 thanks to goals from Danilo D'Ambrosio and Alessio Cerci, while Catania and Parma played out a goalless draw. From: FIFA . Com