The heavy blow suffered against Manchester United is already water under the bridge. On the pitch at the Stadio Olimpico, Roma quickly hit top gear again, sweeping past Sassuolo with an emphatic 3-0 victory to pile massive pressure on Lazio ahead of their tricky late clash at the Stadio Maradona.

An unlikely goalscorer broke the deadlock in the 27th minute: Mario Hermoso. The defender pushed forward like an auxiliary striker, played a quick one-two with Malen on the edge of the box, and unleashed a left-footed strike that gave Muric no chance.

Just three minutes later, a slice of fortune—allied with the persistence of Malen—doubled the lead. The Dutchman took on his marker and fired a ferocious angled drive that took a deflection off Sebastian Walukiewicz before beating the Neroverdi goalkeeper.

In the second half, Rodrigo Mora wrapped things up with a clinical, low right-footed strike across goal into the bottom corner to seal the 3-0 win. On the other side, it is pitch black for Aquilani's side, who slumped to their fifth consecutive defeat, leaving them just one point above the drop zone as the threat of Monza overtaking them looms large. Roma, meanwhile, punched their ticket to second place and can now sit back and watch their rivals from afar.