Roma win as De Rossi joins 500 club; Bayern unstoppable

AS Roma's Daniele De Rossi celebrated his 500th appearance for the club with a goal in their 3-1 win over Empoli at the Olympic Stadium as they moved up to second place in Serie A on Saturday.

De Rossi's strike was sandwiched between goals from Miralem Pjanic and Mohamed Salah in 13 second-half minutes as lowly Empoli slumped to their fifth defeat of the season.

The win put Roma on 17 points, one behind leaders Fiorentina who travel to Napoli on Sunday. Inter Milan and Lazio can overtake Roma if they defeat Juventus and Sassuolo respectively.

AC Milan ended their losing streak with a 1-1 draw at fifth-placed Torino as Daniele Baselli’s 73rd minute effort cancelled out Carlos Bacca’s opener from 10 minutes earlier.

Rudi Garcia's Roma side had threatened to open the scoring on several occasions during the first half but were unable to unlock the resilient Empoli defence.

Pjanic broke the deadlock for the Giallorossi in the 56th minute with a long-range free kick after Alessandro Florenzi was brought down by Leandro Paredes.

Midfielder De Rossi, in his 15th season at the club, headed a Pjanic corner past Lukasz Skorupski three minutes later to delight the home fans.

Roma's two most eye-catching players on the day -- Gervinho and Salah -- then combined in the 69th minute for the third.

Milan, who remain in 11th with 10 points, were much improved after consecutive defeats and took the lead just past the hour when Andrea Bertolacci combined with Giacomo Bonaventura before crossing to the unmarked Bacca.

Unstoppable Bayern beat Werder for record league start

Bayern Munich edged past struggling Werder Bremen 1-0 on Saturday courtesy of Thomas Mueller's first half goal to set a Bundesliga record for the best start to a season with their ninth consecutive victory.

Germany international Mueller, in sensational form this season, was left unmarked in the box to latch onto a superb Thiago Alcantara chip and tap in from close range in the 23rd minute for his ninth league goal as Bayern improved the record they had set themselves in the 2012/13 season.

Unbeaten Bayern, who did not need to hit top form and eased off late in the game granting Werder more space, have a maximum 27 points, seven more than second-placed Borussia Dortmund, who won 2-0 at Mainz 05 on Friday. Bayern face Arsenal in the Champions League on Tuesday.

"We won a very difficult game," said Bayern coach Pep Guardiola, whose team are chasing a record fourth consecutive Bundesliga title. "Werder were defending deep and they made it really hard for us."

"It was difficult finding spaces, especially because we did not have wingers. But I want to congratulate my team as this win means a lot to me", he told reporters.

Bayern were missing half a dozen players, including injured wingers Franck Ribery, Arjen Robben and Kingsley Coman with Guardiola also resting winger Douglas Costa.

But they still dominated against Werder, who have now lost five consecutive Bundesliga matches.