Loftus Road was packed solid with a very festive-sounding Chelsea

MILAN -- Roma has transformed itself into a team that can win close games. The next step is to win what is certain to be a close race for the Serie A title.Roma moved back within four points of league leader Juventus on Monday, beating AC Milan 1-0. A win over Juve on Saturday and then some luck in the final round before the winter break could put Roma in first place to end the year.That would be a welcome change for a team that finished third last season and runner-up in each of the previous two campaigns.Last year, maybe we didnt win these kinds of games, even if we played better, said Roma midfielder Radja Nainggolan, who scored the lone goal against Milan. But this year we have more character, we have an aim and we want to believe in ourselves.After the match at Juventus, Roma will host Chievo Verona on Dec. 22. Juventus will play at relegation-threatened Crotone on the same day.To get to the top, Roma will need to take some time to rest after the physical encounter against Milan.First of all, we have to recover our strength and try to be even more balanced, because if you make a mistake they (Juventus) will punish you, Roma coach Luciano Spalletti said. In half a situation they will score two goals. I fear Juventus, as everyone does, because it is a very great team.It is Juventus efficiency in front of goal which is proving to be the difference this year.The teams performances have been somewhat below expectations, but Juventus has kept grinding out results with some clinical finishing from Gonzalo Higuain -- the Argentina forward who joined Juventus for an Italian-record 90 million euros ($100 million) after scoring a league-record 36 goals for Napoli last season.Higuain scored two goals to help Juventus beat Torino 3-1 on Sunday, despite the hosts dominating for large periods of the match and wasting several chances. His second came in the 83rd minute, with former Roma midfielder Miralem Pjanic adding another in injury time.Juventus does have depth, and that was again demonstrated after Paulo Dybala changed the match when he was brought on in the 71st minute. He helped set up the third goal for Pjanic, who himself had come on as a substitute in the 81st.When you have players like Dybala and Pjanic on the bench, its easy to get the substitutions right, Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri said.Although Milan trails Juventus by seven points, the team coached by Vincenzo Montella is far from out of the title race.It started quietly, without star names, Spalletti said of his rivals, but Montellas team has talent. NMD 2020 NZ . The (11-11-4) Jets are seventh in the Central Division with 26 points. Fifth place Dallas and sixth-seeded Nashville also have 26 points, but the Stars have three games in hand on Winnipeg while Nashville has two. Originals Stan Smith NZ . Durant finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds, Jackson matched his career high with 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting and Lamb scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, lifting the Thunder to a 94-88 win over San Antonio and snapping the Spurs 11-game winning streak. http://www.nmdshoesnz.com/adidas-stan-smith-cheap-nz.html . Artturi Lehkonen, Joni Nikko and Ville Leskinen had the other goals for Finland (1-0) while Juuse Saros stopped 28 shots. Tim Robin Johnsgard had the lone goal for Norway (0-2). NMD XR1 NZ . Now that hes hitting streaking teammates with pin-point passes for easy layups, Love is asserting himself as one of the true superstars in the league. Adidas NMD Human Race NZ . Hey!" The lower tier of the School End of Queens Park Rangers Loftus Road was packed solid with a very festive-sounding Chelsea choral section in this particular part of South Africa Road London, W12. The Minnesota Vikings were the last unbeaten team in the NFL. But on Sunday, boy did they get beaten.One of our experts believes they got exposed in their big loss at the Philadelphia Eagles. So that leads to this weeks #PulseOfTheNation question for you:We were soft. We got overpowered. We got whipped, coach Mike Zimmer said after Sundays game. It was a poor display. We have to stay away from negative plays offensively. Were not good eenough to overcome these things.ddddddddddddThe Vikings are 5-1, and face the one-win Chicago Bears next week on Halloween before hosting the division-rival Detroit Lions (4-3). The Green Bay Packers again seem to be Minnesotas toughest rival, moving to 4-2 on Thursday night with a 26-10 win over those Bears. ' ' '