Rome, February 27 (Punjab Khabarnama):
It was Paulo Dybala’s first club hat trick since October 2018, when he was with Juventus.
Paulo Dybala scored his first hat trick for Roma as the home side beat Torino 3-2 in Serie A on Monday. On a day that Chris Smalling started for Roma for the first time since September, Dybala took all the plaudits.
It was Dybala’s first club hat trick since October 2018, when he was with Juventus. Roma stayed sixth, while Fiorentina rose to seventh after beating Lazio 2-1. Lazio dropped to eighth, and Torino remained 10th.
Dybala got the opener from the penalty spot three minutes before halftime and Duvan Zapata equalized for the visitors two minutes later when he headed home a corner kick from the left. Dybala score a splendid second goal after 58 minutes, swerving a 30-yard shot low past goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.
The Argentine striker capped a fine performance when he worked a neat one-two with substitute Romelo Lukaku and slotted home from a tight angle. Smalling’s substitute, Dean Huijsen, conceded an own goal at the end. Later, Fiorentina hit the woodwork four times and missed a penalty but still managed to win from a goal down against Lazio in Florence.
Lazio took the lead seconds before halftime when Luis Alberto took Matteo Guendouz’s pass and shot low into the net to end a flowing move. The 19-year-old Michael Kayode equalized for Fiorentina 16 minutes into the second half with his first goal of the season.
Nicolas Gonzalez saw his penalty come back off the post midway through the second half but one minute later the home side went ahead. Lazio keeper Ivan Provedel could only parry a shot from Andrea Belotti and Giacomo Bonaventura followed up to give Fiorentina the lead.