Unsung Udinese moved top of Serie A with a 2-1 win over AC Siena on Sunday after previous leaders Juventus had their match at Napoli postponed because of flash floods.
SS Lazio are level with Udinese after they edged Parma 1-0 with an 85th-minute goal from Giuseppe Sculli, but Udinese hold the edge on goal-difference.
Defending champions AC Milan also jumped in front of Juventus with a 4-0 rout of Catania for their fifth consecutive win.
Photo: AFP
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Robinho and Gianluca Zambrotta scored for Milan, who also got an own-goal from Catania midfielder Francesco Lodi.
Udinese and Lazio have 21 points each, Milan have 20 and Juventus are fourth with 19.
Dusan Basta put Udinese in front less than a minute in at the Stadio Friuli and Antonio Di Natale scored his league-leading eighth of the season in the 64th minute, before Francesco Bolzoni pulled one back for Siena in the 76th minute.
Udinese forward Antonio Floro Flores hit the post in the 54th minute, with Di Natale barely missing the rebound.
“Today, we showed our character against a fairly strong opponent,” Basta said. “The entire squad is experiencing a great moment.”
Udinese manager Francesco Guidolin attributed the result to his decision to rest many starters — including Di Natale — in a 4-0 drubbing by Atletico Madrid in the Europa League on Thursday.
“If I had made different choices in Madrid, today we would have finished the match with four or five [players],” Guidolin said.
Based in Udine near the Slovenian border, Udinese’s best finish in Serie A was third in 1998 when former Germany international Oliver Bierhoff scored a league-best 27 goals.
The 34-year-old Di Natale has also led Serie A scoring in the past two seasons and his productivity has allowed Udinese to develop younger players after selling forward Alexis Sanchez to Barcelona for 36.5 million euros (US$50 million) and midfielder Gokhan Inler to Napoli for 15 million euros in the summer.
Smart spending has been key for president Giampaolo Pozzo ever since he bought the small-market club in 1986. This past summer, Udinese spent only 10.1 million euros and took in 66 million euros.
Floro Flores rejoined Udinese after a loan season at Genoa and he has formed a potent attack tandem with Di Natale, while centerback Danilo has become the anchor of the defense after being discarded by Palmeiras.
With only four goals conceded in 10 matches, Udinese have the stingiest defense in the league.
Udinese also have several players on loan performing well with other clubs, such as Argentine forward German Denis at Atalanta BC — who scored his seventh goal on Sunday — and Colombian forward Juan Cuadrado at Lecce — who scored the first of his Italian career.
“That means I’m working for a club that looks ahead more than others,” Guidolin said. “I’m pleased to be a part of this project. We want to stay near the top as long as possible.”
Milan were playing their first match since Antonio Cassano underwent minor heart surgery on Friday and fans at the San Siro dedicated a series of banners to the forward.
“This victory is dedicated to Cassano. He’s going through an unfortunate ordeal for a 29-year-old guy and we hope it gets resolved in the best way possible,” coach Massimiliano Allegri said.
Milan defender Daniele Bonera took a hit to the head during the match and he was taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with mild cranial trauma.
Inter’s match at Genoa was also postponed due to flooding and a minute’s silence was held before each match in honor of the six people killed in the coastal city on Friday.
The league did not immediately set new dates for the Juve-Napoli and Genoa-Inter games.
Inter remain just barely above the relegation zone, ahead of Lecce only on goal-difference.
Ten-man Lecce won 1-0 at last-placed Cesena with a 56th-minute goal from Cuadrado, ruining the debut of new Cesena manager Daniele Arrigoni.
Also on Sunday, Chievo Verona beat Fiorentina 1-0 with a 66th-minute goal from Luca Rigoni to heap more pressure on Viola manager Sinisa Mihajlovic, while Atalanta BC edged Cagliari 1-0 with an 81st-minute goal from Denis.
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