Cassano leads Roma rout

AS Roma surged to a 6-0 victory against AC Siena on Sunday despite Francesco Totti missing a penalty and the side playing much of the game with ten men after Jonathan Zebina's 48th-minute dismissal. The win, thanks in part to a hat-trick from Antonio Cassano, meant Roma closed the gap between themselves and leaders AC Milan back to five points.

Quickfire double
Perhaps fuelled by the manner in which Milan came back from two goals down to defeat city rivals FC Internazionale 3-2 on Saturday evening, Roma set about their task with urgency and took a 19th-minute lead when Cassano scored his first of the afternoon with a close-range header. Five minutes later it was 2-0, Cassano taking advantage of a blunder by Leandro Cuffé, who is on loan from Roma, to slot in his second.

Totti miss
Cassano turned provider for the third strike on 31 minutes, setting up Brazilian Mancini, but Zebina's dismissal for a second bookable offence looked set to stem the flow of goals. Totti saw a 56th-minute penalty saved but made amends by providing the pass which enabled Cassano to wrap up his hat-trick.

Capello confident
Siena had their Brazilian Juarez dismissed in the 76th minute before Roma substitute Marco Delvecchio and Totti completed the scoring and gave Fabio Capello's side renewed confidence. "We still have some hope of recovering the gap on Milan because there are a lot of games left," said Roma coach Capello.

Lippi lament
Despite his side only sitting a point behind Roma, Juventus FC coach Marcello Lippi seems less hopeful of usurping Milan from top spot. "We have four points more than we had at this time last season," Lippi said. "We can't do much better than that and if Milan don't slow down there won't be anything we can do."

Iuliano on target
Juve recorded their third 1-0 win in four Serie A games on Sunday when they travelled to face Bologna. The victory, achieved without the help of the injured David Trezeguet, came courtesy of a 56th-minute goal from Mark Iuliano, who slid in at the back post to connect with a free-kick from Alessandro Del Piero.

Lazio frustrated
Fourth-placed S.S. Lazio were held to a goalless draw away against ten-man AC Chievo Verona, who had Marco Malago sent off in the 58th minute. Claudio Lopez had a penalty saved by Chievo's former Lazio goalkeeper Luca Marchegiani, who was celebrating his 38th birthday, and also had an effort from Brazilian Cesar ruled out for offside.

Hubner heroics
At the other end of the table, AC Perugia picked up their first Serie A win of the season at the 22nd attempt with a 2-1 win against Reggina Calcio. Dario Hubner scored the decisive goal with a header in added time. Elsewhere, Udinese Calcio beat Ancona Calcio 3-0, Modena FC drew 1-1 at home against Empoli FC and US Lecce won 2-1 at Brescia Calcio.