Perhaps surprisingly, it was the hosts who started stronger in the first half, as Ange-Yoan Bonny flashed just wide after the ball rebounded to him in the box before Mile Svilar was forced into the first save of the match, comfortably stopping Adrian Bernabe’s tame effort.
Then, in the space of three hectic minutes, the pendulum swung in Roma’s favour.
The visitors were initially awarded a penalty on the half-hour mark when Giovanni Leoni made a reckless sliding challenge.
He was awarded a yellow card, but after a VAR review, it was upgraded to a red as the penalty was changed to a free-kick with the foul being outside the box.
The 'double jeopardy' rule was therefore no longer in play, and Leoni was deemed to have denied a clear goalscoring opportunity.
From the resulting free-kick, it got worse for Parma as Matias Soule struck in off the post, giving Roma a half-time lead.
With the man advantage, it was no surprise to see the Giallorossi dominate the second half.
Soule and Anass Salah-Eddine tested Zion Suzuki in quick succession, with Parma’s goalkeeper pulling off a great save to deny the former his brace before gathering the latter’s shot on the rebound.
Lorenzo Pellegrini then latched onto a through ball before striking towards the bottom corner, but Suzuki was again on hand to stop it.
Roma could not find a second goal in the latter stages to put the game completely to bed but still managed to grind out a sixth league win in nine, pushing them closer to the European positions.
Parma are now winless in seven matches as a result, and the Crusaders will be desperate to turn their form around and exit the relegation zone - they are one point adrift of safety.