Like true believers, they waited for their saviour to return. Candles were lit, prayers were said and songs sung in His honour. Somebody even hung a banner outside the Colosseum, prematurely celebrating His arrival. "Welcome back, captain!!!" it read.

Francesco Totti had barely returned to training following the hamstring injury he suffered in mid-October but Roma fans were placing all their faith in him to lift their team out of a rut. In seven weeks without their captain, they had lost their grip on first place, falling behind Juventus after a run of four consecutive draws. They had scored only five goals in six games since Totti was sidelined. Before that, they had 22 in nine.

Of course, this was more than just a coincidence. Totti had been in exceptional form to start the campaign, unpicking defences in ways that only he knows how – with a perfectly timed flick here or a no-look pass there. Already, he had six assists and three goals. Bluntly put, neither of his replacements – Adem Ljajic or Marco Borriello – could offer the same quality when deployed as the central forward in Rudi Garcia's 4-3-3.

Even so, Roma's dry run had to do with more than just one player. Gervinho had also been absent for the first two of those drawn games, in which his pace and direct running were sorely missed. There had been a dip, furthermore, in the performances of several others, from the veteran Maicon through to the young Alessandro Florenzi. Some journalists suggested tiredness might be a factor, even though this team did not have European competition to worry about.

Amid the speculation, however, another absentee seemed to have been forgotten. Mattia Destro had been unavailable since the start of the season as he continued his rehabilitation from a lengthy injury saga that began when he tore the meniscus in his left knee back in January. While the rest of Rome was fretting about Totti's status, the 22-year-old was finally closing in on a first-team return of his own.

Destro had come back from this injury once already, playing in seven games for Roma between April and May of this year. He even started the Coppa Italia final against Lazio, before being called up to represent Italy at the Under-21 European Championship over the summer.

Here is where the story gets a little murky. Destro made three appearances for Italy during the group stage of that tournament but did not feature in the knockout phase. By the time he returned to Rome, his injury had flared up again and a very public back and forth began over who was to blame for this development.

Giuliano Cerulli, the surgeon who had operated on Destro's knee after the initial injury, accused the national team's medical staff of making the forward do too much, too soon – a slightly curious claim given that he had already played those seven games for Roma. Angelo De Carli, doctor for Italy's Under-21 side, rejected such assertions, insisting that the player had suffered no new injury while playing for the Azzurrini.

Others pointed the finger at Destro himself, asserting that he had put on weight during his time out and that this was placing an additional strain on the damaged knee. The validity to such claims is open to debate but one way or another the striker's condition had become a cause for concern. Some feared this injury might derail his career altogether.

That would have been a cruel blow to a player who was only just getting started. Signed by Roma to replace Fabio Borini in the summer of 2012, Destro was touted as one of the most promising young talents on the peninsula. Still only 21 years old at the time, he had scored 12 Serie A goals for Siena in the preceding season – the most by an Italian player of that age since Roberto Bettega in 1970-71.

Destro's first season in Rome, though, had been a frustrating one. Even before the injury, he had failed to shine under Zdenek Zeman. Although he finished the season with seven goals, more had been expected.

It was understandable, then, that fans should be so much more preoccupied with the condition of Totti before Sunday's game against Fiorentina. This was a fixture they needed to win in order to stay in touch with Juventus at the top of the table. The Bianconeri had beaten Livorno two days earlier to move temporarily six points clear in first place.

During Roma's initial run of 10 consecutive wins to start the season, many pundits had sought to qualify their success by insisting the real test of their quality would be how they reacted to an eventual first defeat. Instead, it was the first draw that everyone should have been worrying about, the Giallorossi following up a creditable enough 1-1 scoreline away to Torino with rather more disappointing stalemates against Sassuolo, Cagliari and Atalanta.

They were headed towards another such result – or perhaps even worse – when Destro was introduced in the 57th minute on Sunday. Roma had scored first at the Stadio Olimpico, Gervinho eluding defenders wonderfully to tee up Maicon in the seventh minute but Fiorentina equalised through Juan Vargas and seemed to have the upper hand early in the second half. Moments after Destro came on, Alberto Aquilani missed a golden opportunity to put the Viola 2-1 up.

Instead, Roma's substitute would strike at the other end. Once again it was Gervinho who provided the assist, cutting the ball back from the goalline towards his team-mate on the edge of the six-yard box. But it was Destro whose instincts took over, timing his run perfectly at the near post, despite having a defender quite literally hanging off his shirt. The striker duly ripped the said item of clothing off as he tore away to celebrate under the curva.

Destro was on the pitch for only 32 minutes – being taken back off by Garcia in the final minutes as the manager sought to reinforce his midfield following a red card for Miralem Pjanic. The striker did not seem to mind. He had done what he came here to do.

"I've been out for so long, I couldn't take it any more," said Destro. "Scoring today was stupendous, even if the most important thing for me was just to get back on the pitch. I have suffered through this long absence, it is wonderful to be able to put this ugly time behind me."

Garcia, likewise, was delighted. The manager had taken a great interest in Destro's rehabilitation, arranging entire friendlies just so the player would have an opportunity to play in match conditions before this comeback. Now he hopes to be repaid in goals. Roma, even with Totti in the side, were arguably still missing a player of Destro's characteristics – a natural scorer who thrives inside the 18-yard box.

His goal on Sunday served to reinforce the impression of Roma as Juventus's chief title contenders, cutting the champions' lead back down to three points. And perhaps it might even have eased the weight of expectation on Totti, who watched happily from the bench on Sunday. Destro's goal helped to ensure his hamstring would have another eight days to recover, before the trip to Milan on 16 December.

Talking points

• Napoli are also supposed to battle for the Scudetto this season, but slipped to eight points behind Juventus this weekend. That is partly just a consequence of the champions' tremendous recent form (right now they are on pace to hit an improbable 101 points this season), and, as already mentioned, there is a lot of season left ahead of us. But recent results have been troubling for Rafael Benítez, with just one win (and three defeats) in his team's last five games across all competitions. Napoli have conceded 17 goals in Serie A – more than three times as many as Roma – and blew both a 2-0, then a 3-2 lead against Udinese on Saturday, eventually drawing 3-3. The Partenopei were jeered by their fans at full-time and Benítez has been criticised for both his team selection and tactical rigidity. Suffice to say, there is not much optimism to be found ahead of Wednesday's Champions League meeting with Arsenal, which Napoli would likely need to win by three goals to progress.

• Inter also drew 3-3 this weekend, having twice trailed at home to Parma. It has been a puzzling season so far for the Nerazzurri, who have lost just once but who draw far too often. It was suggested in the wake of this latest setback that such results might even impact their ability to upgrade the squad in January – since new owner Erick Thohir might not be inclined to spend if he thinks his team will not make it into the Champions League anyway.

• Sampdoria's improvement under Sinisa Mihajlovic continued with a 2-0 win at home to Catania – their first under the new manager after a pair of draws. It was capped with a really rather nice finish across goal from Manolo Gabbiadini, too.

• Also excellent was Mario Balotelli's free-kick to rescue a point for Milan away to Livorno. The fact that Milan needed to rescue a point away to Livorno, however, is obviously rather less encouraging for the Rossoneri. There are many who believe that a change of manager is required to get this team moving in the right direction again, but owner Silvio Berlusconi mostly seems to think that Milan just need a bigger injection of his own winning personality. "Last year, after a disastrous first half of the season, I got more involved with Milan and we grabbed third place," he noted. True enough, although at the corresponding point last year the Rossoneri were still only 14 points off first place and 10 off third. This year those gaps are up to 22 and 14 points respectively.

• Vladimir Petkovic's position as manager of Lazio is looking even more precarious after his team suffered its sixth defeat of the season. There is no shame in losing to this Torino side (although there ought to be plenty of shame for Alessio Cerci after this shabby excuse for a corner) who look capable of challenging for a European spot this season, but Lazio have now won just once in their last 10 Serie A games. "I know that when you lose games, your job is at risk," acknowledged Petkovic afterwards.

Results: Bologna 0-2 Juventus, Livorno 2-2 Milan, Roma 2-1 Fiorentina, Verona 2-1 Atalanta, Cagliari 2-1 Genoa, Inter 3-3 Parma, Napoli 3-3 Udinese, Sassuolo 0-1 Chievo, Sampdoria 2-0 Catania, Torino 1-0 Lazio

• Latest Serie A table