Roma vs Fiorentina. Italian Serie A.
OlimpicoAttendance25,394.
Tuesday 7 February 2017 22:47, UK
Edin Dzeko moved top of the Serie A scoring charts after netting twice in Roma's 4-0 win over Fiorentina on Tuesday.
It is the first time Dzeko has netted at least 17 league goals in a season since he scored 22 for Wolfsburg in 2009/10.
"We'll see, there are still a lot of matches to play," Dzeko said when asked if he was targeting Europe's Golden Shoe, awarded to the top goalscorer. "It seemed like an easy victory but it wasn't. They had us in difficulty in the first half, then we did well after the first goal.
"I feel good, we're working hard and you can see that on the pitch. Today we played well against a strong team like Fiorentina, we gave everything."
Federico Fazio and Radja Nainggolan scored the other goals as Roma moved back two points above Napoli into second spot, four points behind leaders Juventus.
Fazio also proved crucial at the other end, with a goal-line clearance to deny Federico Chiesa in the 14th minute. That was Fiorentina's only real scoring chance as Roma began to take control.
Roma had several opportunities and should have taken the lead in the 29th when Nainggolan found an unmarked Bruno Peres with a delightful chipped pass, but the Brazilian defender fired over in one of the misses of the season.
The capital side did take the lead 10 minutes later following a brilliant Daniele De Rossi ball over the top, which Dzeko controlled on his chest before turning and driving into the bottom left corner.
It was the first time Dzeko has scored in five successive matches since 2009.
De Rossi also set up Roma's second, shortly before the hour, with a free-kick which Fazio headed in for his first Serie A goal.
Roma extended their lead in the 75th minute with a wonderful team move. From a counter-attack, Dzeko found De Rossi, who passed to Kevin Strootman on the left flank. The Dutch international took one touch, looked up and picked out Nainggolan, who controlled the ball and calmly finished it off.
Dzeko doubled his tally seven minutes from time, snatching the ball off Fiorentina defender Davide Astori and firing past Ciprian Tatarusanu.