Serie A | Udinese 0-0 Atalanta: Woodwork rescues disappointing Dea | OneFootball

Atalanta looked like a shadow of their usual selves, thanking the woodwork and Marco Carnesecchi for avoiding defeat to Udinese.

La Dea lost top spot to Napoli, but had a game in hand after playing the Supercoppa Italiana semi-final last week. Mateo Retegui, Juan Cuadrado and Gianluca Scamacca were still out of action, while the Friulani had Lorenzo Lucca suspended, Maduka Okoye, Keinan Davis, Oier Zarraga and Lautaro Giannetti injured.

See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.

Florian Thauvin saw his strike deflected just wide from the edge of the area, but Berat Djimsiti was left bleeding after a nasty clash of heads with Kingsley Ehizibue during the same move and was forced off.

Giorgio Scalvini prevented Thauvin getting a tap-in from six yards and Mario Pasalic’s acrobatic bicycle-kick should’ve been left for Davide Zappacosta right behind him in a better position.

Marco Carnesecchi made an extraordinary reaction save to claw the Jaka Bijol header off the line from a corner.

epa11818676 Udinese’s Alexis Sanchez (R) and Atalanta’s Berat Djimsiti in action during the Italian Serie A soccer match Udinese Calcio vs Atalanta BC in Udine, Italy, 11 January 2025. EPA-EFE/Gabriele Menis

Udinese somehow failed to take the lead on the stroke of half-time, because Alexis Sanchez marking his 200th Serie A appearance saw his header come off the woodwork, then his follow-up from six yards was blasted onto the crossbar too.

Atalanta almost gave away a goal at the dawn of the second half with a weak Isak Hien header back, which Carnesecchi kicked away from Martin Payero before Sead Kolasinac barged Sanchez over.

Kingsley Ehizibue went off with a hamstring strain, but when Udinese’s initial aggressive ferocity wore off, Atalanta were still unable to create any genuine scoring opportunities until the 94th minute.

That was only their second shot on target of the entire match, a Lazar Samardiz scorcher that goalkeeper Razvan Sava flew to palm round the far post.