Soccer-Roma slip up in race to secure second place in Serie A

Reuters

(Adds Garcia quotes) ROME, April 19 (Reuters) - AS Roma wasted a golden opportunity to regain sole possession of second place in Serie A, drawing 1-1 at home to relegation threatened Atalanta on Sunday. Rudi Garcia's side -- who have now recorded 13 draws in 31 league matches -- are tied with neighbours Lazio on 58 points with seven games to play, 15 behind runaway leaders Juventus. "I'm not disappointed, I'm mad and there's a difference," Garcia told Sky Sports Italia. "Few things worked today. We played bad, Atalanta played bad, even the referee had a bad game." The match could not have started better for Roma who were awarded a penalty after just two minutes when Guglielmo Stendardo slipped and touched the ball with his left hand inside the area. Captain Francesco Totti then calmly netted from the spot for his sixth league goal of the season. Atalanta's leveler, 20 minutes later, also arrived from the spot -- courtesy of German Denis -- after Davide Astori was adjudged to have pushed Ubi Emanuelson. Roma had more than an hour to notch a second goal but were not able to convert despite finishing the match with five attacking players. "I don't want to get into more detail, I'll keep it for myself and talk to the players on Monday," added Garcia. Atalanta remain just above the drop zone in 17th place. The only team to win on Sunday were Palermo who defeated Genoa 2-1 at home, Bulgarian midfielder Ivaylo Chochev scoring both goals. Torino failed to make up ground in the fight for sixth and a spot in next season's Europa League, drawing 1-1 away to Sassuolo. The Turin side remain on 44 points, alongside Genoa, and five adrift of sixth-placed Fiorentina who host Hellas Verona on Monday (1845 GMT). Despite being docked four more points in mid-week for financial irregularities, and having no realistic hope of avoiding relegation, Parma drew 2-2 away to Empoli. Bostjan Cesar's own goal helped Udinese earn a point against Chievo Verona. The Milan derby takes place later on Sunday (1845) while Napoli try to gain ground on the second-placed teams as they visit Cagliari (1600). (Reporting Jacopo Lo Monaco, editing Douglas Beattie)