Serie A roundup: Atalanta send Monza down, Roma extend unbeaten run

Atalanta took a step towards Champions League qualification with Sunday's 4-0 win at Monza whose long-expected relegation from Serie A was confirmed with the convincing defeat.

Charles De Ketelaere netted his first league goals since before Christmas in the first half as third-placed Atalanta moved five points ahead of Lazio who are fifth and beat Empoli 1-0 earlier in the day.

Ademola Lookman and Marco Brescianini completed the rout for Atalanta with well-taken strikes after the break.

With three matches remaining Atalanta are not sure of a spot in Europe's elite club competition with fourth-placed Roma, 1-0 winners over Fiorentina, visiting Bergamo next weekend.

Sunday's match was played after the killing of an Atalanta fan in a fight with a group of Inter Milan supporters in Bergamo late on Saturday night.

Riccardo Claris was stabbed to death, and his fellow fans paid tribute to the 26-year-old with a banner which read "Claris everywhere with us".

Monza will play in Serie B next season, ending a three-season run in the top flight for the team owned by the Berlusconi family.

Alessandro Nesta's side are 12 points behind Lecce, who sit just above the drop zone and lost to league leaders Napoli on Saturday, and will be one of three teams to drop to the second tier.

Assured of promotion are Sassuolo and Pisa, the latter club securing promotion on Sunday even though they lost 1-0 to Bari as their closest rivals Spezia were beaten 2-1 at Reggiana.

Roma took fourth place from Lazio by beating Fiorentina, Artem Dovbyk nodding home the only goal of the game in stoppage time at the end of the first half as Roma extended their unbeaten league run to 19 matches.

Claudio Ranieri's Roma, who also won thanks to a series of fine saves from goalkeeper Mile Svilar, are level on 63 points with Lazio but ahead of their local rivals due to a superior head-to-head record.

Roma will be replaced in fourth by either Juventus, who are a point behind the Rome clubs in sixth, or seventh-placed Bologna with that pair facing off in Sunday's late match.