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| Ten men Udinese hold out |
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Udinese overcame the second-half dismissal of Andrea Coda to hold off a late challenge from Palermo and post their third successive win in Serie A.
The hosts appeared to be firmly in the driving seat with goals from Mehdi Benatia and Antonio Di Natale, but Coda's red card midway through the half gave Palermo an unexpected boost.
Mauricio Pinilla's reply then set up a nervy finish for Udinese, but they clung on for the victory which moves them up to 11th in the table - four places and one point below their opponents.
The home side were hoping to continue their recent good run which had seen them climb off the foot of the table with a win against Brescia in the last round.
And they found themselves in front after just nine minutes today, albeit with a little luck. A free-kick from Di Natale was headed onto the post by team-mate Gokhan Inler. German Denis then failed to connect properly with the rebound, but Benatia eventually stabbed the ball home from six yards out.
Palermo goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu was then forced to dive low to keep out a menacing shot from Di Natale as Udinese looked to build on their lead.
Palermo began to show signs of life as half-time approached and Javier Pastore's effort from distance brought a first save from Samir Handanovic.
But Udinese doubled their tally nine minutes after the interval from the spot. Mattia Cassani was punished for a challenge on Cristian Zapata, with Di Natale slotting in the resulting penalty with ease.
However, a sloppy foul on Pinilla earned Coda a second yellow card and an early bath after 64 minutes, giving Palermo fresh impetus.
Josip Ilicic then wasted a golden chance for the visitors after 68 minutes, lifting the ball over the net from two yards out after Handanovic had parried Pastore's shot into the path of the Slovenian midfielder.
Palermo eventually got on the scoresheet seven minutes from time thanks to Pinilla, who was gifted another rebound chance from Handanovic which was duly dispatched into the back of the net.
But a spell of late pressure failed to produce another goal, much to the relief of 10-man Udinese.
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