Dec 7 (Reuters) - AS Roma suffered a 1-0 defeat away to Cagliari in Serie A on Sunday, with a second-half red card for Mehmet Celik leaving them unable to prevent Gianluca Gaetano's late winner.
The loss denied Roma the chance to narrow the gap to leaders Inter Milan, leaving them fourth on 27 points. Leaders Inter are on 30 points after their 4-0 win over Como on Saturday.
During a largely uneventful first half, Roma became visibly frustrated by their shortage of clear opportunities.
Their search for a breakthrough grew even more difficult early in the second half, as Celik was dismissed minutes after the restart for bringing down Michael Folorunsho just outside the box.
Shortly after, Cagliari came close to scoring as Roma goalkeeper Mile Svilar blocked Adam Obert's close-range effort.
Roma's priority in the latter stages appeared to be securing a point, while Cagliari continued to carve out big chances and tempers flared between the sides, resulting in a brief scuffle in the 78th minute.
However, eight minutes before fulltime, Cagliari finally broke through when Gaetano smartly chested down a corner and fired a half-volley into the net from a tight angle.
Another brief scuffle broke out in the closing minutes as the home side held on to seal the win.
(Reporting by Tommy Lund in GdanskEditing by Christian Radnedge)
