Roma held to draw at Udinese

Udine, Italy – Roma and Udinese did little to help their European ambitions on Saturday as the two sides played out a 1-1 draw at the Stadio Friuli.

Erik Lamela's 20th-minute opener had Roma in front until the 62nd minute, when Luis Muriel dragged the home side back level.

Roma had a chance to claim the win over the final 20 minutes as Udinese's Thomas Heurtaux was sent off, but the capital club was unable to take advantage and now sits three points back of rivals Lazio for fifth place.

Roma took the lead midway through the first half when a diving header from Alessandro Florenzi was pushed onto the crossbar by Udinese goalkeeper Zeljko Brkic. But Lamela was on hand to fire home the rebound for his 12th goal of the campaign.

The home side found a way back to level terms in the 62nd minute when Muriel beat goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg at his near post.

However, any hopes that Udinese had of going on to claim all three points were wiped out 10 minutes later when Heurtaux was sent off for a dangerous challenge on Florenzi.