Roma coach Rudi Garcia was full of praise for his players after a pivotal home win against Napoli on Saturday afternoon.
The Giallorossi needed all three points to open a gap from Lazio and Sampdoria and Miralem Pjanic's first-half goal was enough for the hosts.
They are now four points above Lazio who today are away at Cagliari.
"They [the players] followed the plan to perfection," Garcia told Roma TV.
"We wanted to start strongly and be compact in defence, taking advantage of any open gaps left by Napoli.
"We knew they possess excellent strikers but they tend to struggle defensively.
"The lads did well, we pushed back a little in the second half but the character of the squad made sure that there was always a player ready to defend.
"We are fully aware of the fact that during this period where we don't score a lot we have to be solid, and it helps. I said that a 1-0 scoreline would have been enough [before the game].
"I also want to highlight some individual performances like [Juan] Iturbe, [Miralem] Pjanic and [Morgan] De Sanctis. They made the difference."
