Mirko Vucinic struck a hat-trick against Udinese to keep Roma firmly in the hunt for the Serie A title.

The Montenegro international scored the Romans' last three goals in a 4-2 triumph to pull his team to within four points of league leaders Inter Milan.

Luca Toni gave Roma a 15th-minute lead and then Vucinic grabbed his first midway through the opening half.

Antonio Di Natale, Serie A's leading scorer, reduced the arrears from the penalty spot before the break and equalised shortly after the hour mark.

But Vucinic then took centre stage, putting the hosts back ahead with a spot-kick in the 66th minute before knocking in his third with eight minutes remaining to ensure victory for his team.

The outcome left Roma third in the standings - four points behind Inter, who drew 1-1 at Palermo earlier this evening, and two points behind Milan, who host Napoli tomorrow.

The defeat kept Udinese on 31 points - seven clear of third-bottom Livorno.

Roma went into the game on the back of a 3-3 draw at Livorno last weekend.

The boss of the Eternal City club, Claudio Ranieri, was without the services of suspended Philippe Mexes, Rodrigo Taddei, Daniele De Rossi and Claudio Pizarro and injured captain Francesco Totti.

Udinese started brightly and had the first chance to break the deadlock in the eighth minute when Giovanni Pasquale hit the ball with his left foot from outside the area to force Roma goalkeeper Julio Sergio to make his first save.

At the other end, Vucinic threatened to open his account only for Udinese goalkeeper Samir Handanovic to dive to his right to clear.

Ranieri's team went in front when Toni met Ricardo Faty's pass and scored.

The hosts surged forward and doubled their lead in the 23rd minute.

A counter-attack from the hosts saw Jeremy Menez serve Vucinic inside the area and his right-footed strike beat Handanovic.

Udinese reduced the deficit in the 38th minute when Matteo Brighi brought down Paolo Sammarco and the referee pointed to the spot. Di Natale converted the opportunity , sending Julio Sergio the wrong way.

Roma kept the pressure on but were unable to extend their lead early in the second half and Udinese got back on level terms when Di Natale met Cristian Zapata's free-kick and produced a right-footed strike from six yards which found its way into the net.

The Giallorossi were soon back in front, however, after the referee awarded a penalty when Menez was brought down inside the area by Mauricio Isla. Vucinic gave Handanovic no chance, drilling the ball into the top-right corner.

Roma put the game beyond their rivals' reach in the 82nd minute when Vucinic picked up Menez's pass and struck a right-footed shot past the Udinese keeper.

The home team could have added to their lead deep in stoppage time but Nicolas Burdisso's close-range header hit the bar.