Having failed to take the lead in their two games since Claudio Ranieri, the home side took control of the game from the start and managed to put that right after 12 minutes.
Stephan El Shaarawy produced an excellent angled ball to find Alexis Saelemaekers in the penalty area, and while on the slide he managed to do just enough to get the ball past the onrushing goalkeeper and dribble it into the net.
It looked like that would be enough to put Roma ahead 1-0, but substitute Saud Abdukhamid was penalized for a body check on Lassana Coulibaly, who was sent sprawling to the deck.
Nikola Krstovic kept his cool from the spot and smashed the ball into the goal, bringing the teams level at halftime.
Perhaps sensing a victory was his for the taking, Marco Giampaolo made a three-way substitution at half-time.
Despite the abundance of fresh legs for Lecce, Roma came close to scoring shortly after the restart, but Paulo Dybala dragged a shot wide of the post.
As the hour approached, the hosts needed someone to step up, and their captain Gianluca Mancini obliged, launching himself off an El Shaarawy cross to send a diving header into the back of the net, much to the delight of the home crowd.
Giampaolo responded with two more substitutions, but it was Ranieri's men who made the difference five minutes later.
Abdulhamid atoned for giving away the earlier penalty by picking out Niccolò Pisilli, who tucked the ball accurately into the bottom corner.
Lecce had no answer and the hosts still had time for one more when Manu Kone added a fourth.
After winning with a lead that few would have expected at half-time, Roma have climbed to 11th in the table, with the simmering relegation fears among their fans significantly calmed by tonight's win.
This is in stark contrast to Lecce, which is only two points above the drop zone in sixteenth place.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Gianluca Mancini (AS Roma)
View the competition overview here
Comments