Roma had the game won before the half-hour mark at the Bluenergy Stadium, where Gian Piero Gasperini’s side raced into a 4-0 lead with four different scorers inside 37 minutes.

Bryan Cristante opened the scoring in the 10th minute, meeting a Wesley cross from the left with a near-post header. Rodrigo Mora added the second on 31 minutes and Donyell Malen converted two minutes later after a Matías Soulé pass, before Evan Ndicka headed in the fourth on 37 minutes to settle the contest before the break.

Zaniolo and Palma reduce the deficit

Nicolò Zaniolo pulled one back against his former club on 50 minutes, pouncing after Roma goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini spilled a deflected shot. Matteo Palma volleyed in a Udinese second on 78 minutes. The push did not last. Daniele Ghilardi completed the scoring deep into stoppage time, nodding in a Santiago Castro delivery to seal a 5-2 away win.

For Udinese, this was a seventh defeat in ten league matches, piling pressure on head coach Kosta Runjaic. For Roma, a tenth game unbeaten took them to 24 points, a point behind joint leaders Inter and Lazio.

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Gasperini looks ahead to Manchester

Gasperini had wanted a clean sheet with a Champions League trip to Manchester United only three days away.

“We came out 4-0 up and I’d asked for us to not concede any goals, but we have to play in Manchester in three days time,” he told Football Italia.

“The numbers count and they’re definitely telling us something. We score a lot of goals and with a lot of different players.”

Roma play Manchester United at Old Trafford in the Champions League league phase on Tuesday.

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