Udinese 2-0 Roma: Late Di Natale and Isla goals give Francesco Guidolin's men Serie A leadership

In a rather tedious match, the Udine-based side leapfrogged Juventus and Lazio in the Serie A table prior to this weekend's big match at the Stadio Olimpico

Nov 25, 2011 4:56:00 PM

By Luis Mira

More On :  AS Roma, Udinese
Antonio Di Natale - Udinese (Getty Images)
Getty Images

Two late goals from Antonio Di Natale and Mauricio Isla gave Udinese a 2-0 victory against Roma and top spot, at least temporarily, in the Serie A table.

The home side got off to lively start and could have scored as early as in the ninth minute, but Simon Kjaer cleared the ball away from danger just as Antonio Di Natale was about to put the finishing touch on Giampiero Pinzi's low cross from the right.

Shortly later, Udinese coach Francesco Guidolin saw his plans take a considerable blow as an injured Maurizio Domizzi had to make way for Damiano Ferronetti.

Still, the hosts remained in the driver's seat and almost broke the deadlock in the 44th minute, as Di Natale had just the keeper to beat after a highball into the area, but his shot went high and wide. Just moments later, Miralem Pjanic dribbled into the box and with plenty of room to operate, he could not direct his low shot goalwards.

In the second half, Roma came out strongly and Pablo Osvaldo almost gave his side the lead in the 61st minute. The striker received the ball on the edge of the box and moved past Mehdi Benatia as he cut inside, but his shot went high.

Roma goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg was put to the test just three minutes as he blocked Dusan Basta's close-range shot after a scramble in the box.

Udinese was again in control of proceedings, but only managed to beat Stekelenburg after 79 minutes. Pinzi picked out a long ball to Di Natale, who dodged the challenge of injured Kjaer to volley the ball home.

Roma surged forward in search for an equalizer, but it would be Udinese to score, again on the counter. Pablo Armero picked up the ball just outside the box and sent a pass across the face of the goal for Isla to side-foot home.

With the result, Udinese has moved up to first in the Serie A standings, while Roma remains in fifth place.

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