Radja Nainggolan helps Roma beat Udinese to stay in second place

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Roma rallied from behind to beat Udinese 2-1 and return to second place in the Serie A table.

The Giallorossi were dislodged from the runners-up by city rivals Lazio on Saturday and looked like suffering again when Stipe Perica fired Udinese ahead in Rome.

But Radja Nainggolan equalised before half-time and Vasilis Torosidis capitalised on a defensive mix-up to grab the winner midway through the second half.

There was a cautious start at the Stadio Olimpico and it was not until the ninth minute that Roma threatened, Juan Iturbe picking out Victor Ibarbo only for the Colombian to miss the mark.

Ten minutes later Udinese opened the scoring with their first real attack.

Kostas Manolas should have done better as he allowed Cyril Thereau to get the better of him. Morgan De Sanctis saved from the Frenchman but there nothing he could do about Perica's follow-up effort.

Francesco Totti drew a firm stop from Orestis Karnezis with a powerful free-kick and Danilo had to stand tall to block Nainggolan's powerful drive shortly after 30 minutes.

Roma continued to turn the screw as the break approached and after Ibarbo twice saw Karnezis get the better of him, Nainggolan managed to breach the Udinese goalkeeper's defences.

Miralem Pjanic did all the hard work to draw a sufficient number of Bianconeri players over to the by-line, with Totti then managing to pick out an unmarked Nainggolan for a confident finish in front of the isolated Karnezis.

Two minutes into stoppage time Guilherme could only rattle the crossbar with a free-kick, meaning the scores remained level.

Roma appeared sluggish when play resumed and almost let Udinese restore their lead in the 55th minute, when Thereau won a battle with Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa before firing straight at De Sanctis' feet.

The Giallorossi heeded the warning, pushing aggressively into their opponents' half and forcing them into a critical mistake soon after the hour.

Nainggolan's cross should have easy to deal with but Silvan Widmer made a hash of his clearance and Torosidis gladly slipped in to beat Karnezis.

Roma strived for a third goal to finish the game off but found Udinese determined to avoid further damage and could only manage to twice hit the frame of the goal.

Nainggolan was first to rattle a post having been put through by Iturbe, and Jose Holebas twanged off the bar following Pjanic's pinpoint assist as time ticked away.

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