Roma 1-0 Chievo

A first-minute goal from Daniele De Rossi was enough to give 10-man Roma a victory which moves them up to fourth in the Serie A table.

Rossi headed in from a corner to give the hosts the lead at the Stadio Olimpico, but they had goalkeeper Doni sent off after he handled the ball outside the area after coming out as Elvis Abbruscato charged through on goal.

Chievo were unable to make the most of their numerical advantage and Abbruscato and Luca Ariati wasted chances as the Giallorossi secured the win.

Roma, who dropped two points in their 2-2 draw with Cagliari on Wednesday, got a stunning start when Italy international De Rossi gave them the lead within 60 seconds.

The midfielder managed to escape the clutches of marker Andrea Mantovani to get to David Pizzaro's corner first and head the ball into the right-hand corner of Stefano Sorrentino's goal.

That goal spurred on the hosts and they went close to adding a second after five minutes.

Luca Toni, making his first start for the capital club after making his debut off the bench in midweek, rose well to meet a pin-point cross from Rodrigo Taddei but missed the target.

But Chievo hit back as a brilliant pass from Luca Rignoni split defenders Juan and Nicolas Burdisso and put striker Abbruscato through on goal.

Doni came out to meet him but the Brazilian handled the ball outside his area as he attempted to prevent the forward rounding him, leaving the referee with little choice but to bring out a red card.

However, despite being reduced to 10 men, it was the hosts who continued to carve out the better chances.

De Rossi went close to netting his second but saw his swerving free-kick skim the top of the crossbar while Toni failed to connect with John Arne Riise's mis-hit volley as it flew across the area.

On-loan frontman Toni then set up Taddei but the Brazilian could only fire wide of the goal.

Abbruscato was proving to be Chievo's principal attacking threat and he just failed to get onto a flick from Giampiero Pinzi in first-half stoppage time.

Replacement goalkeeper Bogdan Labont had barely had a save to make since coming on after Doni's sending-off but his poor punch from Simone Bentivoglio's cross almost led to an equaliser as Ariatti volleyed just wide.

Roma should have extended their lead in the 56th minute when Davide Mandelli pulled down Toni in the area to give away a penalty.

Chile midfielder David Pizarro stepped up to take the spot-kick but Sorrentino produced a superb save to palm the ball away for a corner.

Marco Cassetti then missed with the simplest of headers but despite their profligacy in front of goal their visitors never looked likely to find a leveller, with Bentivoglio's weak free-kick proving to be their best effort of the second half as Roma claimed a deserved three points.