Roma beats Cagliari to enter Serie A top four race

After a draw and a defeat in the previous two rounds, coach Gian Piero Gasperini’s side returned to winning ways thanks to the Dutchman, who netted his third goal in his fourth match for the capital club.

Malen scores twice

Malen opened the scoring in the 25th minute with a very tight-angle shot following a pass from Gianluca Mancini, then added the second in the 65th minute after a cross from Turkish defender Zeki Çelik.

Roma head into the capital derby against Lazio on Sunday in strong form, raising their tally to 46 points — level with fourth-placed Juventus, who drew 2–2 with Lazio — while Cagliari remain on 28 points in 12th place.

Atalanta stay close to Champions League spots

Atalanta kept within reach of the Champions League places with a 2–1 home win over Cremonese.

They scored twice in the first half through Montenegrin Nikola Krstović, after a cross from Giacomo Raspadori (13), and Davide Zappacosta, following an impressive solo effort and a tight-angle finish (25).

Cremonese pulled one back very late through Norway’s Morten Thorsby in stoppage time (90+4), immediately after a VAR intervention ruled out an Atalanta goal for offside.

Standing’s update

By extending their dominance over Cremonese — who have now failed to beat them for the 16th consecutive match in all competitions, last doing so in February 1994 — Atalanta moved up to 39 points, seven behind the fourth and final Champions League qualifying place. They are set to face Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League knockout playoff round on the 17th and 25th of this month.

Cremonese remain in 15th place with 23 points after suffering their 11th defeat of the season.