Miralem Pjanic leads Roma into second in Serie A with win over Empoli

Luciano Rossi/AS Roma via Getty Images

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Roma climbed to second place in the Serie A table by beating Empoli 3-1 at the Stadio Olimpico to register a third straight victory.

After probing the Tuscans' weak spots for the best part of an hour, Miralem Pjanic rattled in a free kick to kick off a 13-minute goal rush.

Daniele De Rossi and Mohamed Salah followed the Bosnian's lead with efforts of their own and, with the outcome and destination of all three points confirmed, Liechtenstein international Marcel Buchel opened his account for Empoli to give the travelling fans something to cheer about.

The Giallorossi are now one point behind leaders Fiorentina, who visit Napoli on Sunday, while Empoli remain precariously perched above the relegation zone after losing for the third time in four outings.

Roma created the best chances of the first half but failed to put them away, with Gervinho heading weakly at Lukasz Skorupski before tapping Salah's pass into the Polish goalkeeper's gloves.

The goals began to flow after the break, however, with Pjanic's perfect execution of a free-kick confounding Skorupski in the 56th minute.

Three minutes later De Rossi nodded Roma into a two-goal lead from a corner and the Giallorossi had effectively wrapped things up on 69 minutes, when Salah took Gervinho's assist and clipped the ball home.

Buchel did pull a goal back for Empoli six minutes later, the on-loan Juventus midfielder beating Wojciech Szczesny with an angled drive from the edge of the box, but Roma had done enough.