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Francesco Totti's brace put Roma back on track, but Parma had Bernardo Corradi sent off in the opening half-hour.
The Giallorossi had a blistering start to the campaign, but with two points from their last three Serie A games and a midweek 1-0 defeat at Manchester United, that seemed like a distant memory. Parma looked like the right club to end that slide, as their last three encounters had Roma with an aggregate 10-0 score. Ferdinand Coly and Ludovic Giuly were suspended, while Alberto Aquilani, Rodrigo Taddei, Marco Cassetti, Domenico Morfeo, Francesco Parravicini and Igor Budan were injured.
Philippe Mexes picked up an injury during the warm-up, so a last-minute replacement Matteo Ferrari was drafted in.
Roma broke through within the opening three minutes. Mirko Vucinic pounced on a defensive error at the by-line, dispossessing Castellini to cut back for the easiest of Francesco Totti finishes. Parma were furious as they felt the ball had gone out of play, but replays suggest it was a valid goal.
Luca Bucci parried an effort from Simone Perrotta and former Lazio defender Fernando Couto got into a scuffle with Vucinic.
Amantino Mancini made it 2-0 in their typical style. A counter-attack saw Mancini spring the offside trap on Totti's perfectly-weighted through ball and place a delicate finish past Bucci.
Parma's day went from bad to worse on 27 minutes, as Bernardo Corradi picked up his second yellow card for a handling offence, leaving the Gialloblu with 10 men for an hour. They also had penalty appeals for a Ferrari challenge on Andre Pisanu.
Roma's injury woes worsened as Simone Perrotta also went off with a fitness problem just before half-time, making way for Matteo Brighi. Totti wasted the opportunity to make it 3-0 by blazing over.
The captain also had a shot deflected off Mancini for Bucci to gather, while the defence closed down a fine David Pizarro-Vucinic duet and the former Lecce striker hit the upright when offside.
Vucinic drilled past the base of the upright and Totti blasted over when he had two teammates in a better scoring position. Substitute Cicinho's angled drive was deflected inches off target.
Bucci beat away a fierce Totti free kick, but the Roma man completed his brace late on as he held off a challenge to slot past the goalkeeper following good work from Daniele De Rossi.
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