Atalanta 1-2 Roma

Roma came from behind to see off Atalanta and extend their unbeaten run to five matches this afternoon.

The struggling hosts, who were beaten by lowly Lumezzane in the Coppa Italia in midweek, took a shock lead through Fabio Ceravolo but Mirko Vucinic equalised just before half-time and Simone Perrotta grabbed the winner 19 minutes into the second period.

It was a deserved win for the Giallorossi and gave further weight to the theory that Claudio Ranieri is starting to have an impact in the Italian capital.

The visitors improved as the game went on after starting sluggishly, Ceravolo nodding wide after just two minutes.

Roma's opening opportunity arrived in the 10th minute. A swift counter-attack culminated in shot by Vucinic which drew a fine save from home keeper Andrea Consigli. The rebound bobbled dangerously across the goal but Paolo Bianco got there first to clear.

Having survived that scare, Atalanta went ahead from their next foray forward.

The ball was moved down the left to Ceravolo, who controlled it well before cutting inside, skipping past the challenge of Juan and cracking a right-footed shot past Julio Sergio.

It took Roma 15 minutes to conjure up a response but it almost resulted in the leveller.

David Pizarro whipped in a free-kick which Juan somehow headed over the bar from close range, although, had he hit the target, it would have been ruled out by the assistant referee's flag.

Pizarro was also the supplier when the visitors did hit back. His corner was met by Vucinic and he nodded home.

Atalanta's fragile confidence was evident after the equaliser with Roma gaining midfield supremacy.

It almost led to a second goal for Ranieri's men with Vucinic spotting Consigli off his line and attempting a clever lob which drifted just wide.

Atalanta did concede again after 64 minutes, however. Vucinic found space out wide and he delayed his cross until Perrotta had got into the area. The centre was inch-perfect and the Italy midfielder made no mistake with a clinical header.

Going behind finally spurred Atalanta on to greater heights and they dominated the rest of the game without finding an equaliser.

Simone Tiribocchi came close after 79 minutes when he got on the end of a Simone Padoin cross but his faint touch was not enough to see the ball end up inside the far post.

Cristiano Doni was next to try his luck from 25 yards with a shot which Julio Sergio could only gather at the second attempt.

Still the home side came forward and they missed another chance when Tiberio Guarente flashed a diving header inches wide of the upright.

The final chance fell to Roma although it would have been hard on Atalanta had they grabbed a third.

The impressive Vucinic played in Francesco Totti but his effort was superbly saved by Consigli.

Defeat means Atalanta remain on the fringes of the relegation zone while Roma move up to ninth.