Romelu Lukaku helped Roma to only their second win of the Serie A season as the Belgian striker scored in a 2-0 victory over Frosinone on Sunday, while Juventus laboured to a goalless draw at Atalanta.
Lukaku grabbed his third goal in five league games for Roma after latching onto a clever pass from Paulo Dybala midway through the first half.
Dybala served up the delivery from which Roma wrapped up the points as Lorenzo Pellegrini volleyed in the Argentine’s free-kick at the far post in the 83rd minute.
“It’s an important win with lots of hard work and efficiency in front of goal,” said Lukaku, who returned for another spell in Italy on loan from Chelsea.
“We’re in a difficult situation, but the season is still long. We need to keep playing like that.”
Jose Mourinho’s embattled side moved up to 12th on eight points from seven matches after bouncing back from an embarrassing midweek thrashing at Genoa.
Mourinho on Saturday said he had no fears over his future despite overseeing the worst start of his coaching career.
Juventus had to settle for a 0-0 stalemate in Bergamo as the visitors struggled to create chances in the absence of Dusan Vlahovic.
Serbian striker Vlahovic was sidelined by recurring back issues and Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny made a brilliant save to tip Luis Muriel’s free-kick onto the bar to deny Atalanta victory.
Juventus slipped a spot to fourth behind reigning champions Napoli and are four points behind leaders Inter Milan, who are joined at the top by AC Milan.
Massimiliano Allegri’s Juventus have dropped points in two of their past three games but will have a chance to recharge their batteries this week while other teams compete in Europe.
In Sunday’s other games, Bologna defeated Empoli 3-0 while a stoppage-time own goal allowed Udinese to snatch a 2-2 draw at home to Genoa.
