Match ends, Roma 3, Udinese 2.
Roma 3-2 Udinese
- From the section European Football
Francesco Totti scored on his return as Roma beat Udinese to maintain their grip on second place in Serie A.
Totti, who had been out for a month with a buttock injury, opened the scoring from a rebound and Mattia Destro doubled the lead.
Giampiero Pinzi halved the deficit but Vasilis Torosidis restored the two-goal margin before Dusan Basta ensured a nervous final 10 minutes for Roma.
Roma maintain a three-point lead over Napoli, who beat Torino 1-0 on Monday.
Napoli kept up the pressure on Roma for the second automatic Champions League spot thanks to Gonzalo Higuain's controversial last-minute winner.
The Argentine appeared to foul Torino defender Kamil Glik before firing an angled effort that goalkeeper Daniele Padelli failed to hold.
It was Higuain's 14th goal this season, after his £34.5m move from Real Madrid in July, moving him one behind Juventus's Carlos Tevez, Serie A's top scorer this season.
Juve lead Serie A by 14 points from Roma, who have a game in hand.
Line-ups
Roma
- 26De Sanctis
- 35Torosidis
- 3Pires RibeiroSubstituted forRomagnoliat 85'minutes
- 11Taddei
- 17Benatia
- 5Castan da Silva
- 15Pjanic
- 44NainggolanBooked at 27mins
- 22DestroSubstituted forBastosat 81'minutes
- 10TottiSubstituted forFlorenziat 72'minutes
- 27Yao Kouassi
Substitutes
- 1Lobont
- 2Toloi
- 8Ljajic
- 20Bastos
- 24Florenzi
- 28Skorupski
- 33Jedvaj
- 46Romagnoli
- 94Ricci
- 95Mazzitelli
Udinese
- 22Scuffet
- 27WidmerBooked at 68mins
- 8Basta
- 11Domizzi
- 5Larangeira
- 75Heurtaux
- 7BaduSubstituted forZielinskiat 85'minutes
- 66PinziSubstituted forMurielat 64'minutes
- 10Di NataleSubstituted forLópezat 80'minutes
- 37Pereyra
- 3Marques Loureiro
Substitutes
- 1Brkic
- 2Neuton
- 4Gomes Pereira
- 6Bubnjic
- 9Muriel
- 17López
- 18Alves dos Santos
- 20Yebda
- 21Lazzari
- 30Kelava
- 70Reginaldo de Matos
- 94Zielinski
- Referee:
- Paolo Tagliavento
- Attendance:
- 34,274
Match Stats
Home TeamRomaAway TeamUdinese
- Possession
- Home56%
- Away44%
- Shots
- Home20
- Away14
- Shots on Target
- Home9
- Away7
- Corners
- Home5
- Away11
- Fouls
- Home8
- Away13
Live Text
Full Time
Second Half ends, Roma 3, Udinese 2.
Radja Nainggolan (Roma) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Piotr Zielinski (Udinese).
Attempt missed. Alessandro Florenzi (Roma) right footed shot from the left side of the box is just a bit too high. Assisted by Miralem Pjanic with a through ball.
Gervinho (Roma) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Danilo (Udinese).
Radja Nainggolan (Roma) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Piotr Zielinski (Udinese).
Substitution
Substitution, Roma. Alessio Romagnoli replaces Dodô.
Substitution
Substitution, Udinese. Piotr Zielinski replaces Emmanuel Badu.
Corner, Udinese. Conceded by Alessandro Florenzi.
Substitution
Substitution, Roma. Michel Bastos replaces Mattia Destro.
Goal!
Goal! Roma 3, Udinese 2. Dusan Basta (Udinese) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the top right corner following a corner.
Attempt saved. Allan (Udinese) header from the right side of the six yard box is saved in the top right corner. Assisted by Luis Muriel with a cross.
Substitution
Substitution, Udinese. Nico López replaces Antonio Di Natale.
Corner, Udinese. Conceded by Mehdi Benatia.
Attempt missed. Allan (Udinese) right footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Antonio Di Natale following a fast break.
Attempt saved. Thomas Heurtaux (Udinese) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner.
Substitution
Substitution, Roma. Alessandro Florenzi replaces Francesco Totti.
Francesco Totti (Roma) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Danilo (Udinese).
Attempt blocked. Dusan Basta (Udinese) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Thomas Heurtaux with a headed pass.
Corner, Udinese. Conceded by Radja Nainggolan.
Attempt saved. Antonio Di Natale (Udinese) right footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Luis Muriel with a cross.
Corner, Udinese. Conceded by Mehdi Benatia.
Goal!
Goal! Roma 3, Udinese 1. Vasilis Torosidis (Roma) left footed shot from outside the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Francesco Totti.
Booking
Silivan Widmer (Udinese) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Corner, Roma. Conceded by Thomas Heurtaux.
Attempt blocked. Gervinho (Roma) left footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Dodô.
Attempt saved. Radja Nainggolan (Roma) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Miralem Pjanic.
Attempt blocked. Dodô (Roma) left footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked.
Corner, Roma. Conceded by Silivan Widmer.
Substitution
Substitution, Udinese. Luis Muriel replaces Giampiero Pinzi.
Attempt missed. Francesco Totti (Roma) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the right. Assisted by Miralem Pjanic from a direct free kick.
Mattia Destro (Roma) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Thomas Heurtaux (Udinese).
Attempt blocked. Francesco Totti (Roma) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Radja Nainggolan.
Rodrigo Taddei (Roma) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Emmanuel Badu (Udinese).