MILAN — Debutant Stephan El Shaarawy scored with a crafty backheeled volley to give AS Roma a 3-1 win over Frosinone in Serie A Saturday, their first under coach Luciano Spalletti.
Ervin Zukanovic, another new signing, also played a key role in Roma’s first win in three attempts under Spalletti, who was brought back for a second stint at the club after Rudi Garcia was sacked earlier this month.
Zukanovic, signed on loan from Sampdoria, prevented Roma from going behind when he headed the ball off the line in the 17th minute. It was a crucial save as one minute later Radja Nainggolan, despite being on the ground in the middle of a penalty area scramble, managed to poke the ball past Nicola Leali to give Roma the lead.
Daniel Ciofani brought Serie A debutants Frosinone back into the game when he cleverly flicked the ball up and volleyed past Wojciech Szczesny five minutes later.
El Shaarawy, signed on loan from AC Milan, put Roma back in front early in the second half when, with his back to goal, he managed to flick Zukanovic’s low cross into the goal with his heel from 12 meters.
Stalwart Francesco Totti came on in the 59th minute for only his second league appearance since recovering from a thigh injury and the 39-year-old set up Miralem Pjanic for the third six minutes from the end.
Roma stayed fifth with 38 points, nine behind leader Napoli.
Frosinone was second from bottom, seven points off safety.
Carpi has three points more than Frosinone after drawing with Palermo 1-1.
Atalanta also drew 1-1, against Sassuolo.
West Ham holds
young Liverpool
Liverpool’s pursuit of a second Wembley Cup final appearance stalled at Anfield Saturday as Juergen Klopp’s second-string side had to settle for an undistinguished goalless draw with West Ham United in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Four days after reaching the League Cup final with their penalty shootout win over Stoke City, Klopp, no fan of English football’s congested fixture lists, opted to trust his youngsters as he made 10 changes to the team that played 120 minutes Tuesday.
Angers beats Monaco
Captain Cheikh N’Doye scored a brace as Angers thrashed second-place Monaco 3-0 to climb to third in the French league Saturday.
After slumping to a 5-1 loss against leader Paris Saint-Germain last week, Angers recovered in style with its biggest win this season to end Monaco’s nine-match unbeaten run in the league.
Lyon did not seize the chance to close the gap to Monaco as the seven-time champion’s inconsistent season continued with a loss at Bastia 1-0.
In other matches, Nantes won at Troyes 1-0, Lorient beat Reims 2-0, and Toulouse lost at home against Guingamp 2-1.
Barca takes a big step
Barcelona took a big step toward successfully defending its Spanish league title when Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez led its fightback to beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 Saturday.
Barcelona, which has a game in hand at Sporting Gijon on Feb. 17, opened a three-point lead over second-place Atletico.
Elsewhere, Bruno Soriano converted a second-half penalty as fourth-place Villarreal edged Granada 1-0 to pull level on points with Madrid.
Inaki Williams gave Athletic Bilbao a 1-0 win at Getafe, while Malaga won at Eibar 2-1. — Agencies
