On The Continent: Roma Hit Speed Bump

ROMA'S CHARGE STALLS
Over the last few weeks, Roma have been chipping away at what had previously looked like an insurmountable lead at the top of Serie A for Internazionale. The near-complete collapse of the Nerazzuri since their Champions League exit and the fiasco of Roberto Mancini's 'I'm leaving/No I'm not' saga have taken their toll on the champions and the Giallorossi have been taking advantage. However, they may well end up looking back on this weekend as a really good opportunity wasted.

Away to struggling Cagliari, Roma were hoping to put more pressure on the league leaders on Saturday afternoon, with Inter facing a potentially tricky trip to face Lazio later that day, but got off to a terrible start when Matteo Ferrari put through his own net after just three minutes. Francesco Totti grabbed an equaliser just before half-time, but Roma weren't able to find a winner and had to make do with just a point.

Luckily for them, Inter also failed to win, despite taking an 11th minute lead at the Stadio Olimpico, as Tommaso Rocchi pegged them back just before the hour mark. Those two 1-1 draws mean that things are the same as before at the top, with the big difference being that Roma have one less match to further close the four point gap between themselves and Inter, while Saturday also brought an injury to Totti which rules him out of their Champions League quarter-final against Manchester United.

Luciano Spalletti said afterwards that he wasn't too upset with the performance: "The lads played a good game and deserved more, so it is a little disappointing not to take home three points. The match got off to a very bad start, as we conceded immediately and everything changed from that moment on.