Roma Triumphs Over AC Milan 3-1 To Keep Champions League Aspirations Alive

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Roma maintained their pursuit of a Champions League spot by defeating AC Milan 3-1 at the Stadio Olimpico. This victory on Sunday moved Claudio Ranieri's side to 66 points, just one point behind Juventus. Juventus secured a 2-0 win over Udinese with goals from Nicolas Gonzalez and Dusan Vlahovic. Roma must now win against Torino and hope Venezia can hold Juventus next week.

The match started with Roma taking an early lead. Gianluca Mancini scored in the third minute, heading Matias Soule's corner past Mike Maignan. Milan's situation worsened when Santiago Gimenez received a red card in the 21st minute for elbowing Mancini. Despite being a man down, Milan equalised before halftime through Joao Felix after Mile Svilar saved Alex Jimenez's shot.

In the second half, Roma regained their advantage with Leandro Paredes' spectacular free-kick in the 58th minute, finding the bottom-right corner. Milan nearly equalised again when Rafael Leao's close-range shot was saved by Svilar. Bryan Cristante sealed Roma's victory three minutes from time, scoring from outside the box after Maignan stopped attempts from Angelino and Stephan El Shaarawy.

This win marked Claudio Ranieri's 500th Serie A game as a coach. He became only the second manager, alongside Nils Liedholm, to lead Roma across three different decades in Italy's top league. The victory also ended a long winless streak against Milan, as Roma had not beaten them since October 2019, enduring ten matches without a win (four draws and six losses).

Roma's home form remains strong, extending their unbeaten run at Stadio Olimpico to 12 matches (10 wins and two draws). This impressive streak is only surpassed by Paulo Fonseca’s tenure in the 2020-21 season when they achieved nine wins and three draws at home.

The Giallorossi are determined to secure Champions League football next season under Ranieri’s guidance. Their recent performance against Milan has boosted their chances significantly. However, they remain reliant on other results going their way to achieve this goal.