Roma 3 Empoli 1: De Rossi strikes on 500th appearance

Daniele De Rossi marked his 500th appearance for Roma with a second-half goal as they overcame Empoli with a routine 3-1 win at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday.

De Rossi headed home Miralem Pjanic's corner just before the hour, after the Bosnian had opened the scoring by curling home a superb 30-yard free-kick three minutes prior.

A confident performance was nearly up and running after 90 seconds, only for Gervinho's effort to be chalked off for offside.

The Ivorian wasted several more chances before the break, while Manuel Pucciarelli saw a powerful half-volley charged down in Empoli's best chance of the half.

But Roma rarely looked threatened and made a breakthrough when Pjanic stepped up to fire home a brilliant free-kick in the 56th minute.

Mohamed Salah added a third 10 minutes after De Rossi had doubled the lead, blasting home after Gervinho's scampering run down the left, while Marcel Buchel reduced the arrears 15 minutes from time with a well-taken drive.

The result sees Roma climb to second above Lazio and Inter, with the latter taking on four-time defending champions Juventus on Sunday.