Roma thrash Milan, Lazio climb to second place

Rome, Dec 23 (IANS): AS Roma ended their 2012 campaign on a resounding note thrashing AC Milan 4-2, while their cross-city rivals Lazio moved up to second spot in Italian Serie A football with a 1-0 win at Sampdoria.

Nicolas Burdisso and Pablo Osvaldo scored once and Erik Lamela twice to put the home side 4-0 up in just over an hour Saturday, reports Xinhua.

Roma struggled a little bit late in the second half after Marquinhos was sent off with 13 minutes left for handball.

Milan made a late rally and scored two goals in the last five minutes.

Lazio chalked up a 1-0 win at Sampdoria and leapfrogged Inter Milan to the second place on the table, eight points behind champions and league leaders Juventus.

Andrea Stramaccioni’s Inter moved down to fourth after Esteban Cambiasso’s equalizer five minutes from time cancelled out Ciro Immobile’s superb individual goal for Genoa.

Inter are now nine points off the top going into the Italian mid-season break.

Fiorentina climbed back to the third spot with a 3-0 win over troubled Palermo as Stevan Jovetic netted twice, including a penalty, and Gonzalo Rodriguez scored with another spot-kick.

Napoli scored twice in the last five minutes to claim a dramatic 2-0 win at bottom club Siena.