Roma moved above AC Milan into second place in Serie A thanks to a smash-and-grab 1-0 win at Fiorentina on Sunday night.
Mirko Vucinic stole all three points for the Giallorossi with the only goal of the game in the 82nd minute after Fiorentina had dominated the game from start to finish, but failed to turn their pressure into goals.
The Viola were left empty-handed after one of their most impressive performances of the last few months while Roma extended their excellent run of form to 12 Serie A games without defeat.
Juan Vargas had the ball in the back of the net for the home side in the 19th minute, but the goal was disallowed for a tight offside decision which the Viola disputed intensely.
They channelled their anger into creating chance after chance as Roma spent practically the duration of the game pegged back in their own half.
Julio Sergio was in for a very busy night in the Roma goal and he started as he meant to go on with a great save to deny Vargas from a tight angle.
Lorenzo De Silvestri had the best chance of the first half four minutes before the interval when he had only Julio Sergio to beat, but he blazed his shot wide.
The trend continued in the second half with Alberto Gilardino missing four quick-fire chances.
He spurned his first chance with just Julio Sergio to beat before sending in one weak header, another header which was straight at the Roma goalkeeper and then a side-footed shot which flashed past the far post.
At the other end, Vucinic wasted Roma's best chance of the game with a half-hearted finish at the end of a rare attack, but it was all Fiorentina until Vucinic provided a venomous finish to his second chance of the night to put the visitors ahead.
Daniele De Rossi headed a corner down into the six-yard box where Vucinic blasted the ball in unstoppably off the underside of the crossbar for only his fourth goal of the season and his first since November.
It was a heart-breaking goal for the Viola to concede after such a positive performance, and they were visibly deflated and unable to react inside the final seven minutes.
Roma now had no issues with being on the back foot as they defended their unexpected lead over the distance to secure a vital three points which take them above Milan into second place, eight points behind league leaders Inter Milan.
Fiorentina drop further behind the clubs chasing a place in Europe next season, but they can draw pride from their performance, which was not reflected in the final result.
