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Amantino Mancini's looping header saw off 10-man Palermo, but Roma struggled to break down the Sicilians. The game changed on 57 minutes when Leandro Rinaudo was perhaps harshly shown a straight red card and moments later the winning goal went in.
Francesco Totti was given a special trophy before kick-off to celebrate his 200 official goals in a Roma jersey. The captain returned to the side after a bout of flu, while Christian Panucci and Max Tonetto's bans had expired. Matteo Brighi stepped in for the suspended Daniele De Rossi. The pressure was on Palermo after two straight defeats and a Coppa Italia exit midweek. Their last visit to the Olimpico ended in a 4-0 loss.
The Giallorossi almost scored one of the goals of the season after four minutes, as some splendid team play saw Rodrigo Taddei chip over the defence for Simone Perrotta's volley to take a coat of paint off the base of the far post.
Marco Cassetti had a fierce drive deflected out for a corner. David Pizarro was lucky to avoid a booking for diving in an attempt to earn a penalty, which warranted a furious reaction from Amauri.
Amantino Mancini cut back for Tonetto to rifle off target, while Pizarro's low drive was deflected past the near post.
The Rosanero created their first real chance on 33 minutes when Cristian Zaccardo touched on Fabrizio Miccoli's free kick and Amauri just failed to get on the end of the ball.
After the restart Miccoli's free kick curled over, but Roma went even closer as Tonetto set up Totti's first-time strike that was charged down in the box by Leandro Rinaudo's arm, but it was at point-blank range and he was protecting his face and chest from the ball, so the referee waved play on.
Cassetti put in a low cross from the right that was inches past the tap-ins of both Perrotta and Totti.
The game turned on 57 minutes when Rinaudo was shown a straight red card for hacking down Brighi in a sliding tackle with his foot raised. Although the contact wasn't too hard, it was a dangerous and late challenge. Palermo were furious, as they were left with 10 men for the last half-hour.
It no doubt affected their concentration as much as their marking and within two minutes Roma had taken the lead. A corner kick found Mancini's looping free header towards the far post, but Alberto Fontana was late coming out.
Alberto Aquilani made his Serie A comeback over 100 days after picking up a serious thigh injury against Manchester United. He saw Fontana off his line and attempted an audacious lob from 40 metres.
Despite being a man down, Palermo remained in the game and tried to score an equaliser, while Roma seemed to run out of steam and were pinned back into their own half. Cassetti was fortunate to avoid a second booking for a body-check, infuriating boss Francesco Guidolin.
Aquilani was incorrectly flagged offside, but had seen his shot parried by Fontana in any case. On 88 minutes Palermo went close to snatching a draw, as Edison Cavani fired over the bar from eight yards.
Yet in the last seconds of stoppages Roma almost made it 2-0, as Philippe Mexes' header from a corner kick cracked against the upright.
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