Roma beat Sampdoria to move into Italy’s top four

Roma moved into Serie A’s top four on Monday with a 1-0 win at Sampdoria which left their hosts rooted to the bottom of the league.Lorenzo Pellegrini’s ninth-minute penalty ensured Roma leapfrogged local rivals Lazio into fourth place, four points behind league leaders Napoli.Jose Mourinho’s side earned a hard-fought win at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris without injured Paulo Dybala, who will potentially be out of action for Roma until January. Samp’s seventh defeat of their 10 league fixtures was the first for coach Dejan Stankovic after replacing sacked Marco Giampaolo earlier this month.Former midfielder Stankovic, who resigned from the Red Star Belgrade job after they failed to qualify for the Champions League group stages, won the competition as a player with Mourinho at Inter.However his winless team did little to merit anything from yesterday’s match, leaving them three points from safety.Substitute Nicolo Zaniolo would have given Roma a more comfortable win had he not he not dragged wide from close range in the 77th minute after pinching the ball from Omar Colley. There was more drama in the stands than on the pitch as former Samp president Massimo Ferrero had to be escorted from the stadium by security staff after unexpectedly showing up to watch the match.Ferrero was forced to step down from his role at Samp after he was charged with fraudulent bankruptcy and spent time in prison. Samp fans found out that Ferrero had arrived and tried to make get at him in the stands and according to media reports even in the hospitality centre, forcing his exit before the match finished.Atalanta don’t have resources to win title, says GasperiniAtalanta cannot say they are aiming for the Serie A title as the Bergamo-based side does not have enough resources to compete with bigger clubs, manager Gian Piero Gasperini said yesterday. Atalanta are in second place, two points behind Napoli after 10 games, and extended their unbeaten run from the start of the season to a club record 10 matches with a 2-1 home win over Sassuolo on Saturday.“The world of football pushes in another direction, maybe towards the teams who have a bigger following. It looks like the first requirement to compete – not soccer, but the number of fans,” Gasperini told RadioRai.“We, with our resources, cannot say that we will fight for the Scudetto.”Gasperini took over in 2016 and led Atalanta to their first ever Champions League qualification in 2019 followed by two more seasons in Europe’s elite club competition. The finished eighth in Serie A last season and failed to get into Europe for the first time since Gasperini became coach.“Maybe we will aim for the Italian Cup, which is already a difficult target: otherwise I can say that having reached the Champions League for three times in a row is like switching on the spotlight,” he added.Atalanta face either fellow Serie A side Spezia or Serie B club Brescia, who meet tomorrow, in the Italian Cup last 16.