league draw, and left it six points

MILAN - Title-chasing Roma was held to 1-1 at home by relegation-threatened Empoli on Saturday and looks set to lose more ground on Serie A leader Juventus. Jed Lowrie Jersey .It was Romas fourth consecutive league draw, and left it six points behind Juventus, which visits Udinese on Sunday. Napoli can also close the gap to second place to four points if it wins at Chievo Verona.We are in a period with so many problems, and the only thing to take out of this is the reaction of the team, Roma coach Rudi Garcia said. Not only were we a goal down but also a man down. We gave everything in the second half, not only to draw, but also to win.With (Juan) Iturbes injury and (Davide) Astori hitting the crossbar, we can say that the wheel of fortune isnt turning for us. Things go better when you have choices, and at the moment I dont have that. Now we have to grit our teeth and, with the players we have, give everything to get back to winning ways.Roma already had personnel problems with a host of players injured, and Gervinho and new signing Seydou Doumbia at the African Cup of Nations. Matters grew worse when Iturbe was forced off with a knee injury after just 24 minutes.Empoli took a surprise lead in the 39th minute after Kostas Manolas was sent off for bundling into Riccardo Saponara, when the Empoli midfielder was through on goal. Massimo Maccarone converted the resulting penalty.The visitors were also reduced to 10 men in first-half stoppage time as Saponara received a second yellow card for a handling offence, although he argued he controlled the ball with his shoulder.Roma again looked like a different side after the break as it fought back for the fourth successive match, levelling when Douglas Maicon curled a Miralem Pjanic pass into the far bottom corner in the 57th.The capital side could have taken the lead shortly after but Davide Astori headed onto the crossbar.The tension was high, and Mario Rui claimed Pjanic punched him in the ribs off the ball. Empoli coach Maurizio Sarri was sent off for dissent.Empoli moved two points off the relegation zone with its seventh draw in nine matches.Earlier, Genoa drew 1-1 at home to Fiorentina.Fiorentina remained sixth ahead of the rest of the weekends fixtures, four points behind third-place Napoli. Genoa was three points further back.Genoa took the lead in comical circumstances. Stefano Sturaro, who was playing his last game for Genoa before moving to Juventus, somehow failed to put the ball straight into an empty net from six yards, but his shot hit the inside of the post and went in off the back of goalkeeper Ciprian Tatarusanus head.Fiorentina, which was playing its first match without Juan Cuadrado after his move to Chelsea, levelled 10 minutes into the second half. Matias Fernandezs cross was nodded on by a Genoa player, and Gonzalo Rodriguez headed in at the back post.Genoa had to play the final nine minutes with 10 men after Nicolas Burdisso was sent off following a second booking. Ed Lynch Jersey . -- Manager Bob Melvin shuffled the Athletics batting order and got the type of production he was looking for from the top of the lineup. Seth Lugo Jersey . Having won the first leg 1-0 in Barcelona, Madrid entered the match at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium already in control and quickly sealed its place in the semifinals when Jese Rodriguez scored in the seventh minute.The Florida Panthers have signed centre Dave Bolland to a five-year contract worth an average annual value of $5.5 million. Bolland played just 23 games last season in his first year with the Toronto Maple Leafs after an ankle injury suffered early in the season. He was effective for the Leafs when he did play, scoring eight goals and four assists in 23 games, all but two of those points coming in the 15 games before he went down due to injury. He is coming off a five-year deal he signed with Chicago prior to the 2009-10 season worth an average annual value of $3.375 million. The Mimico, Ont. native spent the first six years of his career with the Chicago Blackhawks, winning two Stanley Cups in the process, before the team dealt him to Toronto at the 2013 NHL Draft. The 28-year-old forward has 78 goals and 102 assists for 180 points over 355 career games in the NHL. Bolland was drafted by Chicago in the second round (32nd overall) of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. The Panthers also signed forward Jussi Jokinen to a four-year deal worth an average annual value of $4 million. In 81 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2013-14 Jokinen scored 21 goals and added 36 assists for 57 points, the seccond-highest single-season total of his career. Tug McGraw Jersey. He is coming off a three-year contract that paid him an average annual value of $3 million. Jokinen spent his first full year with the Penguins this past season after being dealt to the team at the 2013 trade deadline by the Carolina Hurricanes. He has also spent time with the Dallas Stars and Tampa Bay Lightning over his 10-year NHL career. The 31-year-old forward has 149 goals and 265 assists for 414 points over 660 career games in the NHL. Jokinen, a native of Finland, was drafted by Dallas in the sixth round (192nd overall) of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft. He has represented Finland on the international stage on numerous occasions, most recently winning bronze at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Florida would also add forward Shawn Thornton to a two-year deal worth an average annual value of $1.2 million. The Panthers also signed centre Derek MacKenzie to a contract. The 33-year-old scored nine goals and added nine assists in 71 games with the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2013-2014. The Panthers added another veteran later in the day, signing defenceman Willie Mitchell to a two-year, $8.5 million contract. ' ' '