Rome was overwhelming; the Giallorossi needed just one half to sink Udinese. Runjaic is in deeper and deeper trouble.

A Roma side that was nothing short of overwhelming needed only forty minutes of extremely high-intensity play to get the better of a helpless Udinese, which has managed to earn just one point in its last eight matches. At the Bluenergy Stadium, in front of a decidedly irritated crowd (a barrage of boos accompanied the first half and the post-match proceedings), the final score was 5-2 for the Giallorossi, with the Friulians managing to score a couple of times in the second half without ever giving the impression that they could truly get back into the game.

The first goal came as early as the 10th minute: a cross from Wesley on the left found Cristante’s head, who shook off Palma’s mark and beat Okoye. The Giallorossi controlled the game with ease and, within six minutes—shortly after the half-hour mark—sealed the victory: in the 31st minute, Rodrigo Mora doubled the lead by finishing from point-blank range off a pass from Cristante, Malen made it 3-0 in the 33rd minute, taking advantage of a completely disorganized defense, and Ndicka sealed the 4-0 lead in the 37th minute off a play that started with a corner kick, with Palma once again beaten to the ball in the air.

In effect, the match was over at that point, and Roma seemed to take their foot off the gas: Udinese, however, deserves credit for their spirited reaction in the second half, which led to Zaniolo’s goal in the 50th minute, with the former Udinese player doing well to put the ball in the net after it was initially parried by Gollini, and to Palma’s beautiful goal, which—following defensive hesitations—resulted in a spectacular strike in the 78th minute: a volley that left the Giallorossi goalkeeper with no chance.

Udinese tried to take further advantage of a Roma side that had let its guard down a bit too much but was unable to find the back of the net again; on the contrary, it was Gian Piero Gasperini’s team that put the icing on the cake, with Ghilardi scoring in the 92nd minute. The match thus ended 5–2 in favor of the Giallorossi, who solidified their third-place standing with 24 points, while Udinese remained in the group of teams second-to-last with 5 points, alongside Fiorentina and Parma, ahead of only Venezia with 3 points.