Wijnaldum leads late rush to keep Roma in top 4

Wijnaldum leads late rush to keep Roma in top 4

AS Roma beat Sampdoria 3-0 at a rainy Stadio Olimpico on Sunday to move into the fourth place in Serie A thanks second-half goals from Georginio Wijnaldum, Paulo Dybala and Stephan El Shaarawy.

Roma have 50 points, the same as third-placed Internazionale, and are two ahead of fifth-placed AC Milan who are in action against leaders Napoli later on Sunday.

Seven minutes after the break, Sampdoria were reduced to 10 men after defender Jeison Murillo received a second yellow for a late tackle on Tammy Abraham.

After a poor start with few opportunities, Roma’s Wijnaldum thought he had broken the deadlock, only to see his angled strike bounce off the post nine minutes before the interval.

Sampdoria goalkeeper Nicola Ravaglia pulled off some acrobatic saves to deny the hosts, first stopping Nicola Zalewski’s attempt from outside the box and then blocking the rebound shot from Lorenzo Pellegrini.

Wijnaldum scored his second league goal of the season in the 57th minute with an easy header.

Dybala converted penalty a minute before time after Ravaglia fouled Wijnaldum and El Shaarawy scored the third for the hosts four minutes into stoppage time.

The defeat leaves the Genoa club second-bottom with 15 points from 28 matches, 10 points adrift of the safety zone.