Hellas Verona and Udinese played to a 2-2 draw at the Stadio Marc-Antonio Bentegodi on Saturday afternoon in Serie A.
Luca Toni opened the scoring in the first half by converting a penalty and Emil Hallfredsson added another goal early in the second to give Verona a solid lead. Antonio Di Natale respond with his own goal minutes later before Emmanuel Badu sent the Gialloblu fans home upset with an equalizer in stoppage time.
Udinese put the home team under pressure from the beginning but it was the Gialloblu who had the first real threat of the half. Alessandro Agostini received the ball on the left and used a bit of skill to work his way into the box. Allan left his leg trailing and tripped Agostini, prompting referee Dino Tommasi to point to the spot.
Toni took the penalty and converted it after sending the Simone Scuffet in the wrong direction. It was the forward’s 20th goal of the season, moving him into second behind Torino’s Ciro Immobile for the league lead.
The Bianconeri had the majority of possession and shots in the first half but the Verona defence was steady. The best chances for Udinese in the first half came from outside the box, but Rafael was up to the test as Di Natale had two shots but was well guarded by the home club’s back line.
Verona had a chance to extend their lead late in the half but an excellent shot by Toni was cleared off the line by Danilo.
The match heated up in the second half both in tempers and goals. Eight minutes in Giampiero Pinzi went down with an apparent injury and Juan Gomez Taleb tried to walk the ball out of play. Maurizio Domizzi took offence and shoved him out of play, leading to a tense standoff between the two sides.
Minutes later Verona extended their lead when Gomez found Hallfredsson on the left side of the box and the midfielder used his left foot to chip the ball near post past Scuffet to extend Verona’s lead.
Minutes later Di Natale was able to get his name on the score sheet when he received a pass from Roberto Pereya and, controlling it quickly and using a good bit of skill, slotted a shot past Rafael. It was his 190th goal in Serie A action.
Verona were once again denied by a goalline clearance as Fabrizio Cacciatore had a shot off a corner cleared at the last moment by an in-position Allan.
Di Natale had an excellent chance to equalize minutes later when a pass in towards the forward beat Rafael but was covered by a Verona defender.
The forward had another chance late in the second half when he lost his defender in the box but his header went wide. Verona continued to lose Udinese players in the box as a minute later an open Domizzi header also went wide.
It would not be until second half stoppage time that Udinese were rewarded for their statistical dominance.
Badu, who came on for Allan, received a pass into the box from Lazzari and slotted it past the keeper. It was a deserved goal for the Bianconeri, as they had almost two-thirds of the possession allowing them to take home a well deserved point from their travels to Verona.
