Roma 1-0 Milan: Radja Nainggolan strikes after Wojciech Szczesny saves penalty to keep up pressure on Juve

• Nainggolan punished Milan for missing a first-half penalty on Monday night
• The Roma midfielder fired home 62nd minute winner at the Stadio Olimpico
• M'Baye Niang had penalty saved after Szczesny fouled Gianluca Lapadula

Roma narrowed the gap on Serie A leaders Juventus to four points ahead of their trip to Turin on Saturday.

The Rossoneri had an opportunity to forge ahead when Gianluca Lapadula was fouled in the box by Wojciech Szczesny. 

The goalkeeper, on loan from Arsenal, made up for the rash decision by diving to his left to save the effort from M'Baye Niang.  

Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny saves penalty from Milan's M'Baye Niang in the first half

The two sides had begun level on 32 points but Roma's win left them alone in second place, four points behind leaders Juventus who they visit on Saturday. 

At the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, there were few clear-cut openings but Milan were gifted a chance to go in front when Gianluca Lapadula was clumsily tripped by Szczesny when the Milan forward was running into a dead end.

The Polish goalkeeper made up for his mistake by diving to his left to save Niang's weak side-footed effort, producing the biggest cheer of the night from the home fans.

Roma midfielder Nianggolan (centre) celebrates after scoring the winner against Milan

The Poland international revealed afterwards that watching footage of Niang’s penalty taking had given him a few clues about what to do.

“Today it was a matter of watching Niang’s last few penalties and I noticed that every time he misses a penalty he changes the corner,” Szczesny revealed on Roma TV. “He missed right last time so, yes, I just hoped that he did that again and went to the left.

“So it’s not just what happens on the pitch but how you study big players before the game.”

He added: “I wasn’t very happy about saving [the penalty], it was more of a relief - because the penalty came from my mistake. I didn’t have to come out, the least I could do for my team was to correct my own mistake and save the penalty. It was a big relief.”