Roma tighten grip on second place

Roma have strengthened their grip on second place in the Serie A table courtesy of a comfortable 2-0 victory over AC Chievo Verona.

Gervinho opened the scoring for the Gillorossi with 17 minutes on the clock, drilling the ball past Michael Agazzi following a mistake in the Chievo defence.

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The visitors came close to doubling their advantage shortly after as Mattia Destro weaved through the opposition defence with ease, before getting an effort away which went narrowly wide of the target.

Destro did find the back of the net three minutes before half time, latching onto a precise pass in the box before unleashing a low strike into the bottom corner.

Radja Nainggolan was picked out by Gervinho just after the hour mark and gifted the opportunity to put the game beyond Chievo's reach, but his shot failed to trouble Agazzi.

The Chievo keeper was called upon once more late on as Gervinho's header was heading towards goal, but the Italian pulled off a fine save.

Roma move six points clear of third-placed Napoli with the victory, while league leaders Juventus are 11 points ahead.