Roma thrashed hosts Udinese 5-2 on Saturday evening in the tenth round of the Italian league.
The win lifted Roma to 24 points and third place in Serie A, just one behind joint-leaders Inter Milan and Lazio. Udinese stay stuck on 5 points in second-to-last place.
The Calciomercato website ran through the key moments of a match that Roma made look remarkably easy, catching Udinese in the middle of one of their worst runs of the season.
Bryan Cristante opened the scoring with a tenth-minute header, nodding home a Wesley cross. Roma then spurned two gilt-edged chances as Matias Soule and Donyell Malen both struck the post.
The visitors didn’t wait long to double their lead. Rodrigo Mora made it 2-0 in the 32nd minute, latching onto a Cristante through ball inside the box.
Two minutes later came the third. Malen gathered a pass from Soule, controlled it and lashed the ball into the net with his left foot.
Evan Ndicka completed Roma’s quartet in the 38th minute, heading home a Soule corner as the Bluenergy Stadium turned on their own Udinese players with jeers.
Roma eased off after the break, content with their lead, and Gasperini rang the changes to rest several players. That handed Udinese the initiative and a sniff of a comeback.
Nicolo Zaniolo struck against his former club in the 50th minute. Lennon Miller fired in from outside the box, the ball deflected off a defender and forced Gollini into a save, only for Zaniolo to follow up and bundle it in.
Udinese’s second arrived in the 78th minute. Matteo Palma pounced on a clearance from Hassane Kamara and volleyed a superb first-time effort into the net. Unai Gomez nearly narrowed the gap further on 84 minutes, his powerful strike flashing past the right post as Gollini dived to track it.
The fightback fizzled out. Their attacking threat dried up, and Roma landed the final blow. Two minutes into stoppage time, Daniele Ghilardi made it five, breaking from the back onto a Castro pass before drilling a powerful shot home.