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Roma up to third |
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Roma moved up to third in Serie A thanks to a win over Udinese, although they ended the game with just 10 men.
Jeremy Menez put the Giallorossi in front after 24 minutes and Marco Borriello sealed the win 10 minutes into the second half.
However, Nicolas Burdisso ruined what would have otherwise been a perfect evening at the Stadio Olimpico when he was sent off with nine minutes remaining.
Udinese started brightly and almost took the lead in the fifth minute when Maurizio Domizzi found room at the far post to turn and volley a shot from a tight angle which brushed the crossbar.
The Bianconeri continued to cause a dormant Roma problems and Antonio Floro Flores should have done better with his first chance of the match in the 17th minute when he shot straight at Julio Sergio after receiving a poor clearance from Nicolas Burdisso inside the area.
Roma finally awoke and a shot from Francesco Totti was parried out to Juan, whose volley from eight yards went wide.
Menez was Roma's main threat and he put them ahead in the 24th minute.
He controlled the ball with his chest just inside the Udinese half before heading towards goal, dribbling past both Mehdi Benatia and Andrea Coda before curling his shot into the far corner of Samir Handanovic's goal.
The goal lifted Roma, who took control of the game with Totti trying to lob Handanovic from 25 yards and the Slovenian goalkeeper only stopped the ball from crossing the line at the second attempt.
Borriello gave the home side a two-goal cushion in the 56th minute when he showed excellent strength to hold off Domizzi after being found inside the area by Menez and then beat Handanovic inside his near post.
Floro Flores should have brought Udinese back into the game within 60 seconds of the restart, but he tried a tricky shot with the outside of his boot after being put through with only Julio Sergio to beat.
With Tuesday's Champions League tie against Bayern Munich in mind, Roma coach Claudio Ranieri removed both of his goalscorers, taking a slight risk with half an hour still to play.
And Burdisso ensured his side had to work even harder on preserving their lead in the last 10 minutes when he was sent off for pushing inside the penalty area as he lost his temper with the teams lined up for a corner.
Alexis Sanchez hit the post almost immediately with a a shot from 25 yards and German Denis had a goal wrongly ruled out for offside, but Udinese could not capitalise on their one-man advantage and the Giallorossi held onto the points.
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