Still unbeaten in 2011, Udinese are the form team in Serie A at the moment and earned a convincing 2-0 win over Catania thanks to a Gokhan Inler strike and an Antonio Di Natale penalty.
Udinese welcomed Catania to the Friuli, who without an away win all season and also missing Rafael Martinho, Marco Biagianti and the suspended Pablo Alvarez.
Udinese had a goal disallowed after seven minutes for Pablo Armero being in an offside position.
At the other Catania almost scored when Ezequiel Schelotto pounced on a defensive error to pass to Francesco Lodi but his shot was charged down by Cristian Zapata.
The home side broke the deadlock after twenty two minutes and with a brilliant goal by Gokhan Inler. The ball fell to Inler at the edge of the D and he hit a screamer on volley that flew past Mariano Andujar in the Catania goal.
Udinese then were denied a penalty after a handling offence by Alejandro Gomez but the ball appeared to hit his foot first then strike his hand. So the referee made the right call.
With sixteen minutes to go Udinese doubled their advantage when referee Russo pointed to the spot.
The penalty was awarded because Marchese fouled Alexis Sanchez in the area. Di Natale stepped up and set Mariano Andujar the wrong way.
In the final stages of the time referee Russo picked up an injury to his calf and the game petered out to an Udinese home win, a win that keeps Udinese in the hunt for Champions League football.
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