Bruno Peres' shot was deflected past his own goalkeeper by Armando Izzo
Roma stayed in touch with Serie A leaders Juventus thanks to a win at Genoa secured by Armando Izzo's first-half own goal.
Luciano Spalletti's side started the day four points behind Juve, and were without forward Mohamed Salah, at the Africa Cup of Nations with Egypt.
They needed Wojciech Szczesny to make a good early save from Diego Laxalt.
Genoa then lost keeper Mattia Perin to injury, and went behind as Izzo diverted in a Bruno Peres shot.
It was the defender's second Serie A own goal of the season, having also scored a winner at the wrong end when Genoa lost to city rivals Sampdoria in October.
Perin injured himself making a brilliant reaction stop to deny Roma's top scorer Edin Dzeko - bringing more frustration for the goalkeeper, who was making his return from suspension after being sent off against Palermo in his last match.
Szczesny, on loan from Arsenal, was inspired in goal at the other end, somehow keeping the ball out at his near post in the first half after Nikola Ninkovic's free-kick had been deflected through a crowd, then making a flying stop from Lucas Ocampos right at the end.
Juventus can re-establish a four-point advantage by beating Bologna in Sunday's late match (19:45 GMT).
Lazio strengthened their hold on fourth place with an unconvincing 1-0 victory over next-to-bottom Crotone, with Ciro Immobile scoring the winner in the last minute.
Lucas Biglia hit the bar with a first-half penalty for the Biancocelesti, but Crotone were desperately unlucky when Marcus Rohden had a goal wrongly ruled out for offside with 20 minutes to go.
England goalkeeper Joe Hart began 2017 with a clean sheet as Torino drew 0-0 at Sassuolo in a forgettable game. The most significant moment was the return, as a substitute, of Sassuolo's highly rated Italy Under-21 forward Domenico Berardi after more than four months out with a knee injury.
Alejandro Gomez scored twice in the first 23 minutes as Atalanta lifted their hopes of Europa League qualification with a convincing 4-1 win at Chievo, with Andrea Conti and Remo Freuler also on target.
Two goals from Ivan Perisic gave Inter Milan a fourth successive Serie A win, as they won 2-1 at Udinese in Sunday's early kick-off.
AC Milan had a late strike from Colombia striker Carlos Bacca to thank for a 1-0 win over Cagliari that allowed them to leapfrog Atalanta into fifth and to within six points of the summit.
- Published3 January 2017
