Udinese maintained their chase of league leaders Juventus with a nervy 1-0 victory against Palermo yesterday.
Captain and talisman Antonio Di Natale made a heroic return from injury by notching the only goal of the game.
Udinese could have won more comfortably but in particular wasted a rash of late chances to kill the game on the counter attack.
They now trail Juventus by just one point and were later joined by Lazio on 18 points after the capital-based club beat Cagliari 3-0 away, veteran Miroslav Klose again among the scorers for the winners.
Udinese coach Francesco Guidolin said his team had bounced back following the midweek defeat at Napoli that cost them their unbeaten start to the season.
“It was a great game, Palermo played well, we did a bit more than them and deserved to win,” he said.
“Unfortunately it remained in the balance until the end, we created many chances but didn’t manage to put them away.”
Udinese first opened up Palermo when Giampiero Pinzi got into the box but with only goalkeeper Alexandros Tzorvas to beat he opted to try to pick out Di Natale instead but fluffed his pass.
Di Natale hit the bar with an acrobatic volley from the edge of the box but was called for offside.
Mauricio Isla picked out Kwadwo Asamoah from the right but the Ghana midfielder’s shot was well saved by Tzorvas.
The goal came on 38 minutes when Dusan Basta picked out Di Natale, who was right on the limit of offside but scored with a volley as he fell sideways.
Udinese could have scored again when Di Natale was free in the box but Pablo Armero’s pass made the striker check his run, his first touch was poor and then his inventive chip flew wide.
Udinese played cleverly on the counter after the break and Di Natale’s volley from Isla’s cross went just past the upright.
Armero then picked out Di Natale, who shot into the side-netting before returning the favour only for the Colombian wing-back to crash his effort off the post.
Palermo’s best chance fell to Israeli forward Eran Zehavi but his finish was weak and Samir Handanovic saved easily.
In other games, Andrea Lazzari earnt his Fiorentina coach Sinisa Mihjlovic some respite by scoring the only goal in the 1-0 defeat of Genoa.
Bologna put daylight between themselves and the drop zone by beating Atalanta 3-1 while Lecce and Novara stayed in bottom three after sharing the points in a 1-1 draw.
Cesena remain rock bottom after losing 2-0 at Parma while Siena thumped Chievo 4-1.
Cesena fire coach
Cesena fired coach Marco Giampolo following the 2-0 defeat at Parma which left the club rock bottom of Serie A.
Cesena have yet to win this season, picking up just three points and six defeats in their nine matches. They have only scored three goals.
Giampaolo becomes the fifth coach this season to be fired. He had previously coached Ascoli, Cagliari, Siena and Catania.
Serie A
Bologna 3
Di Vaio 45 pen; Ramirez 48; Loria 68;
Atalanta 1
Denis 7;
HT: 1-1. Att: 17,870.
Cagliari 0
Lazio 3
Lulic 39; Klose 44; Rocchi 88;
HT: 0-1. Att: 11,000.
Fiorentina 1
Lazzari 41;
Genoa 0
HT: 1-0. Att: 19,312.
Lecce 1
Strasser 32;
Novara 1
Rigoni 44 pen;
HT: 1-1. Att: 6,200.
Parma 2
Paletta 41; Lucarelli 66;
Cesena 0
HT: 1-0. Att: 12,480.
Missed penalty: Giovinco (P) 35.
Siena 4
Destro 25, 57; D’Agostino 61; Calaio 90;
Chievo 1
Moscardelli 75;
HT: 1-0. Att: 8,472.
Udinese 1
Di Natale 38;
Palermo 0
HT: 1-0. Att: 13,000.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Juventus | 9 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 15 | 7 | 19 |
| Udinese | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 3 | 18 |
| Lazio | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 8 | 18 |
| Milan | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 19 | 14 | 17 |
| Napoli | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 7 | 14 |
| Catania | 9 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 12 | 14 |
| Siena | 9 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 6 | 13 |
| Cagliari | 9 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 13 |
| Palermo | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 11 | 13 |
| Fiorentina | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 8 | 12 |
| Genoa | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 12 | 12 |
| Parma | 9 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 12 |
| Roma | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
| Bologna | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 10 |
| Atalanta (-6) | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 12 | 9 |
| Chievo | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 9 |
| Inter | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 8 |
| Novara | 9 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 17 | 7 |
| Lecce | 9 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 16 | 5 |
| Cesena | 9 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 12 | 3 |
Next fixtures
Saturday: 18.00 Palermo vs Bologna; 20.45 Novara vs Roma.
Sunday: 12.30 Genoa vs Inter. 15.00 Milan vs Catania; Atalanta vs Cagliari; Cesena vs Lecce; Chievo vs Fiorentina; Lazio vs Parma; Udinese vs Siena. 20.45 Napoli vs Juventus.
Top scorers
7 goals: Di Natale (Udinese).
6 goals: Denis (Atalanta), Giovinco (Parma), Klose (Lazio).
5 goals: Palacio (Genoa), Jovetic (Fiorentina), Calaio (Siena).
Prima Divisione ‘A’
Como vs Tritium 1-2; Foggia vs Avellino 1-1; Lumezzane vs Viareggio 1-0; Monza vs Spal 3-1; Pro Vercelli vs Foligno 0-1; Reggiana vs Pisa 1-0; Sorrento vs Carpi 2-1; Ternana vs Pavia 2-2.
Standings: Ternana 23; Taranto, Sor-rento 19; Lumezzane 17; Como, Carpi 16; Tritium 15; Pro Vercelli 14; Pisa 13; Avellino, Foggia 11; Monza, Reggiana 10; Spal 9; Pavia 8; Benevento 6; Via-reggio 4; Foligno 1.
Prima Divisione ‘B’
Barletta vs F.Salo 0-1; Bassano vs Sira-cusa 1-2; Cremonese vs Lanciano 2-0; Latina vs Andria 5-2; Piacenza vs Carra-rese 0-3; Spezia vs Portogruaro 0-2; SudTirol vs Prato 2-2; Trapani vs Frosi-none 2-2; Triestina vs Pergocrema 3-2.
Standings: Pergocrema, Frosinone 18; Portogruaro, Carrarese 17; SudTirol 16; Barletta, Lanciano, Trapani, Cremonese 15; Siracusa 14; Piacenza, Triestina 12; Spezia 11; Andria 10; Latina 9; Prato, Feralpi Salo 8; Bassano 6.