A goal in either half capped off a sensational return for Francesco Totti as Roma beat Sampdoria 2-0 to move to within three points of Serie A leaders Internazionale.

Roma's enigmatic talisman, who was returning to the attack after a three-week absence with a foot injury, was at the heart of everything Roma created in an incredibly one-sided first half.

It was a foul on the captain by Mirko Pieri that won Roma the free-kick that led to their opener.

Brazil defender Juan hoofed the dead ball into the area, where Matteo Ferrari was bundled to the ground by Stefano Lucchini, gifting the home side a penalty.

Totti made no mistake with the spot-kick, nonchalantly chipping the ball into the roof of the net while Luca Castellazzi went the other way.

Roma continued to tear forward for the rest of the half. Twice Mirko Vucinic, who was playing on the left wing rather than in attack following Totti's return, went close.

First, he cut inside Hugo Campagnaro and saw a low drive pushed out by Castellazzi, and then it was Campagnaro who blocked a shot five minutes before half-time.

Vucinic was also the architect of perhaps the best cross of the season, but had not one of his team-mates racing to latch onto it at the far post. Marco Cassetti, who should have been there, failed to take another chance when he was fed through by Totti.

Despite being pegged back into their own half for most of the 45 minutes, Sampdoria did have their chances. Daniele Francescini put a header wide from a free-kick and Christian Maggio allowed Doni in the Roma goal to save his shot when there were only the two of them within 20 yards following a quick counter-attack.

The most guilt-edged miss came when Lucchini, who was not having the best of nights, fired wide from no more than three yards out after latching onto Sergio Volpi's cross.

Bizarrely, the visitors had their best spell of the match after being reduced to ten men. Volpi was booked just after the break and then hauled down Manchester-born Simone Perrotta when he was through on goal, which earned him his marching orders.

A more balanced game was almost tipped in Roma's way with 25 minutes to go, Perrotta hitting a dipping volley towards goal from 25 yards out, only for Castelazzi undoubtedly Samp's best player top save acrobatically, and then to deny Vucinic at the near post from the resulting corner.

The replacement of the ineffective Emiliano Bonazzoli with Andrea Caracciolo almost paid off for Sampdoria as the substitute forced Doni into a flying save with a minute left.

From the resultant corner though, Argentine defender Hugo Campagnaro fired over. It was a miss worse than Lucchini's in the first half.

Roma punished them immediately, Doni's goal-kick finding Cassetti, who slid a pass across goal for Totti to finish off the game with his ninth goal of the season.

The win means second place Roma have now gone 11games without a defeat in Serie A.

Meanwhile, Sampdoria's defeat kept them ninth in the league table, but extended their winless run to three games. They will be down to 11th if results go against them in the matches featuring Milan and Catania.

Genoa 1-0 Parma

There was better news for Sampdoria's city rivals Genoa, who recorded a 1-0 win over Parma thanks to Marco Borriello's penalty just before half-time.

The victory moved Genoa up from 15th to 12th in Serie A - above their opponents, for whom Bernardo Corradi - on loan from Manchester City - missed a second-half sitter.

Jamie O'Leary / Eurosport