Udinese emerged victorious over Atalanta 2-0 at the Stadio Friuli on Sunday afternoon in Serie A.
Antonio Di Natale’s early goal at the sixth minute established Udinese’s lead and gave Cyril Thereau the confidence to successfully strike again just before half time.
Atalanta midfielder Carlos Carloma made a crucial mistake early on, with a bad touch just outside the box, resulting in Di Natale stealing the ball and striking the top right corner from distance.
Luca Ciagrini tried to find an equalizer from outside the penalty area himself moments later, but failed to trouble Udinese goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis.
Atalanta conceded the first corner of the match, allowing Udinese’s Thereau to attempt a bicycle kick from a central position immediately outside of the penalty area that ultimately flew wide of the goal. Thereau shortly thereafter struck unsuccessfully again following a charge up the wing and a shot from an awkward angle inside the penalty area.
Udinese yet again attempted to put the ball past Marco Sportiello from outside the penalty area but Guilherme shot wide despite a nice service from Thereau.
Thereau scored an impressive goal in the 39th minute. Following a long run from the midfield to just outside of the penalty area. The Udinese forward faced three defenders before getting his shot off while falling to the ground.
The Zebrette earned a free kick in a dangerous area, just outside of the penalty box just before half time, but Di Natale’s attempt was promptly saved by Sportiello.
Soon after the second half began, Bruno Fernandes reignited Udinese’s momentum, getting on the end of a Di Natale through ball, however he fired wide of the Atalanta goal.
German Denis did make an impact after replacing Rolando Bianchi, but his header was no trouble for the Zebrette.
Di Natale won a free kick within just outside of the penalty area after being fouled by Yohan Benalouane. However, the Zebrette captain made a valiant attempt on the goal but it went narrowly wide.
A dangerous attempt on the bottom right corner from Udinese’s Allan inside of Atalanta’s penalty area nearly increased his team’s lead to three.
The match then petered out, with Udinese content with two goals and Atalanta posing no real threat in the Zebrette penalty area.
