Roma defeats Udinese for a taste of the top
Roma briefly climbed to the Serie A summit as goals in either half from Lorenzo Pellegrini and Zeki Celik sealed a 2-0 win over Udinese at Stadio Olimpico.
Having seen AC Milan drop points to Parma on Sunday and Napoli fall to defeat at Bologna ahead of kick-off, the Giallorossi took full advantage to lead the division by two points.
Roma's swift start saw Manu Kone test Maduka Okoye in the 13th minute, but from there, the host side struggled to create any clear-cut chances as they searched for the opener.
But it was gifted the chance to take the lead three minutes before the break when Udinese defender Hassane Kamar handled the ball inside the penalty area.
Roma captain Pellegrini stepped up to dispatch the resulting spot-kick, sending Okoye the wrong way to pick out the bottom-right corner of the net.
Udinese started brightly after the break when Adam Buksa tested Mile Svilar, but Roma doubled their advantage just after the hour through Celik's neatly taken finish.
