Roma keep pace with Juventus, officially relegate Pescara

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:44 am

Roma cruised past Pescara, who were officially relegated with the result.
Roma cruised past Pescara, who were officially relegated with the result.
Luciano Rossi/AS Roma via Getty Images

Roma thrashed rock-bottom Pescara 4-1 to move back to within eight points of Serie A leaders Juventus on Monday night and officially relegate the Dolphins.

Three goals in the space of five minutes -- albeit interrupted by the half-time interval -- ensured the points went back to Rome as the capital club kept their slim hopes of denying Juve a sixth straight Serie A title alive with five games remaining.

Kevin Strootman broke the deadlock in the 44th minute as he fired home from a central position and before Pescara could gather themselves, Radja Nainggolan doubled the lead on the stroke of half-time.

Three minutes into the second half, Mohamed Salah's shot from outside the area found the bottom left corner of Vincenzo Fiorillo's net and it was the Egyptian again to score Roma's fourth on the hour mark.

Roma passed up a series of chances to add to their lead and instead it was Pescara who had the final word, with Ahmed Benali turning in Ledian Memushaj's cross with seven minutes left.

Pescara made an immediate return to Serie B after winning the promotion playoffs a year ago. After managing just two wins from 33 games they can no longer catch 17th-placed Empoli, who are 15 points ahead and have secured the head-to-head tiebreaker.