Gian Piero Gasperini was sent off before Roma scored twice in quick succession to complete a 3-1 win at Cremonese and move back to the top of the table.
Roma has 27 points, two more than Milan and Napoli and three more than Inter and Bologna.
Mile Svilar had to make several important saves before Roma went ahead with its first clear opening. Manu Koné combined with Lorenzo Pellegrini and found Matías Soulé, who curled a shot into the bottom left corner.
Cremonese nearly answered before halftime. Svilar pushed one effort onto the woodwork, and the hosts had a penalty overturned after video review when the referee ruled Gianluca Mancini’s arm was tight to his body and the handball was not punishable.
Gasperini was dismissed in the 62nd minute after reacting to a booking for dissent. Two minutes later, substitute Evan Ferguson collected a loose ball in the area and curled in his first goal for Roma.
Roma added a third in the 69th when Wesley beat the offside trap, ran onto Stephan Shaarawy’s through ball and finished past Emil Audero. Francesco Folino headed in a late consolation for Cremonese.
Pulisic Scores as Maignan Saves Milan
Christian Pulisic scored in his first start for more than a month and Mike Maignan saved a penalty as AC Milan beat Inter 1-0, denying Inter the chance to move level at the top.
Pulisic, who had returned from injury as a 70th-minute substitute in Milan’s 2-2 draw at Parma, struck in the 54th minute. Youssouf Fofana won the ball from Hakan in midfield, Alexis Saelemaekers broke forward, Yann Sommer saved the first shot and Pulisic tapped in the rebound.
Inter had already hit the woodwork twice and later had a chance to equalize after Strahinja Pavlovic stepped on Marcus Thuram’s foot in the area. Maignan saved the penalty, and Pulisic credited him afterward: “100%. I just scored an easy goal, he saved us maybe 10 times.”
In other results, Mateo Pellegrino scored twice as Parma won 2-1 at Hellas Verona. Parma moved three points above the drop zone, Verona fell to bottom place and Lecce stayed only two points above the drop after losing 2-0 at Lazio.