Rome: A controversial goal helped Roma to a 1-0 win at Udinese in Serie A on Tuesday, highlighting the need for goal-line technology.
A header from Davide Astori in the 17th minute hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced down near the goal line.
The goal-line official ruled that the ball did not entirely cross the line but after protests from Roma the referee overruled him, sparking outrage from Udinese.
"If the referee decides on his own then let's remove the goal-line official, because there's a structural error here," Udinese coach Andrea Stramaccioni said.
Replays were inconclusive.
"The goal-line official told me it wasn't a goal but it's the referee who decides and I think he saw it correctly," Astori said.
Roma coach Rudi Garcia is a proponent of introducing goal-line technology.
"With the technology there wouldn't have been any controversy," Garcia said. "It was a goal but if there had been confirmation it would have been better, especially for the referees."
Roma moved provisionally level with leader Juventus, who were hosting Inter Milan later as the Italian league returned to full action after the winter break. The win also put Roma nine points ahead of third-place Lazio ahead of Sunday's Rome derby.
Udinese remained in the middle of the table, 17 points behind.
Elsewhere, Sassuolo beat AC Milan 2-1 at the San Siro, leaving the Rossoneri in seventh place, 14 points behind Juventus.
Andrea Poli gave Milan the lead nine minutes in but Sassuolo took control with goals from Nicola Sansone and Italy forward Simone Zaza.
Palermo routed 10-man Cagliari 5-0 to ruin the debut of Gianfranco Zola as the Sardinian club's coach, with Paulo Dybala netting twice to take his total to nine goals this season.
In other matches, Parma beat nine-man Fiorentina 1-0 after Mario Gomez failed to equalize with a penalty kick; Genoa and Atalanta drew 2-2; and Empoli-Hellas Verona and Chievo Verona-Torino each ended 0-0.
Napoli were visiting struggling Cesena later Tuesday.
At the Stadio Friuli, Roma's 38-year-old captain Francesco Totti set up the goal with a free kick that Astori met in the center of the area.
Totti was up against Antonio Di Natale in a matchup of the league's two top active career scorers.
Totti is second all-time with 237 goals in 571 appearances and Di Natale is seventh on the list with 201 in 404 matches.
Silvio Piola, who won the 1938 World Cup with Italy, has the record of 274 goals.
Di Natale provided a perfect ball for Gabriel Silva in the 27th but the Brazilian couldn't find the target.
Roma forward Adem Ljajic was carried off on stretcher in the 83rd following a hard tackle by Giovanni Pasquale.
Udinese protested for a penalty when Urby Emanuelson made contact with Panagiotis Kone inside the area in the 85th but the referee ruled to play on, resulting in more protests from the hosts and a management member on Udinese's bench being sent off.
Goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis stopped solid chances from Emanuelson and Alessandro Florenzi in injury time but Udinese couldn't produce any serious opportunities at the other end.
However, the match will be remembered for the controversy surrounding the goal.
Goal-line technology was used at last year's World Cup but hasn't yet been approved for Serie A. Full instant replay has not been approved yet by FIFA but Italian football federation president Carlo Tavecchio has offered to use it in Serie A next season as an experiment.
"In sports with inferior numbers to football they have the technology. In tennis, for example, there is Hawk-Eye, but we don't have it and we don't understand why. It's absurd," AC Milan vice president Adriano Galliani said. "I hope something is done for next season."
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