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Roma beats Udinese to move into 3rd ahead of Inter vs. Lazio
Roma leapfrogged nine-time defending champion Juventus and is six points behind leader AC Milan, which surprisingly lost 2-0 at Spezia on Saturday.
Jordan Veretout scored twice to help Roma beat Udinese 3-0 in Serie A and move into third in the standings on Sunday.
Roma leapfrogged nine-time defending champion Juventus and is six points behind leader AC Milan, which surprisingly lost 2-0 at Spezia on Saturday. Inter Milan can move to the top of Serie A later but it faces an in-form Lazio side that is looking for a seventh successive win.
Lazio would move back level on points with Roma with a victory.
Udinese came into the match on the back of three successive clean sheets but it took Roma just five minutes to end that streak when Veretout headed home Gianluca Mancini’s cross from the right.
Veretout doubled his tally 20 minutes later from the penalty spot after Udinese goalkeeper Juan Musso brought down Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Veretout thought he had also added an assist to his name shortly after when he set up Lorenzo Pellegrini, but the goal was disallowed for a Mkhitaryan foul in the buildup.
Udinese had several chances to reduce the deficit in the second half, notably when home goalkeeper Pau López did brilliantly to fingertip the ball away from Gerard Deulofeu, who had been sent clear on goal following a horrendous mistake by Roma midfielder Bryan Cristante.
Pedro added a third for Roma in stoppage time with a delightful strike into the top right corner after he was set up by fellow substitute Edin Džeko.
SUPER SUB
Luis Muriel again came off the bench to score a last-gasp winner for Atalanta in a 1-0 victory at relegation-threatened Cagliari.
Muriel has earned himself the reputation of ‘super sub’ and it again proved the case in Sardinia. Atalanta appeared more dangerous when he came on in the 68th and the Colombia forward netted in the final minute.
Muriel collected a long, cross-field pass, wriggled between two Cagliari players and slammed home a powerful shot.
Muriel had almost set up the winner seven minutes earlier, with a cross which Duván Zapata headed onto the crossbar.
Cagliari thought it had been given a stoppage-time chance to equalize when it was given a penalty after Marten de Roon appeared to trip Daniele Rugani but it was rescinded after the referee reviewed the incident on the pitchside monitor.
Atalanta remained seventh, level on points with Lazio and Napoli, which are immediately above it and have both played a match less.
Cagliari remained two points from safety.
Fiorentina is seven points above the relegation zone after losing 2-1 at Sampdoria.
