Serie A | Torino 1-2 Udinese: Zaniolo inspires surprising victory

Udinese held on after a late Torino comeback for all three precious points in this surprising away victory, as Nicolò Zaniolo and Jurgen Ekkelenkamp were decisive.

Ivan Ilic, Perr Schuurs and Zanos Savva were still out for the hosts, plus Adam Masina at AFCON, while Marcus Pedersen and Zakaria Aboukhlal nursed knocks after a 3-0 win away to Verona. Cyril Ngonge and Niels Nkounkou shook off flu symptoms. The Friulani missed Jordan Zemura, Saba Goglichidze and Adam Buksa, with Vakoun Bayo on international duty, but Arthur Atta returned to the squad on the bench.

See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.

Udinese had the ball in the net after 18 minutes with Christian Kabasele’s header, and it was initially disallowed for offside. However, the VAR review showed he was onside, and it was ruled out for handball instead.

Moments later, Cesare Casadei’s header forced a tough save out of Maduka Okoye, while Nicolò Zaniolo’s volley flashed just wide from the edge of the area.

An acrobatic Giovanni Simeone chest and bicycle-kick volley was straight at Okoye, but Udinese had two huge opportunities.

First Zaniolo on the counter from Jurgen Ekkelenkamp’s pass fired straight at Alberto Paleari. Moments later, the Toro goalkeeper’s clearance hit Keinan Davis and the ricochet bounced inches wide of the empty net.

Ekkelenkamp went on another dangerous counter-attack to test Paleari from a tricky angle on the stroke of half-time.

Udinese were the better team and took a deserved lead after the restart when Nikola Vlasic lost it in midfield, sparking another Ekkelenkamp counter, as Zanoli laid it off for Zaniolo to sweep home.

Davis was ready to add a second soon after when sent through by Ekkelenkamp, but this time Paleari rushed off his line to parry.

Thomas Kristensen almost gifted Torino an equaliser with his comical back-pass without looking, so Okoye had to sprint back to clear off the line.

Arthur Atta’s counter-attack sent Davis through, but Saul Coco managed two twist at the last second and deflect the finish over the bar.

Torino also threatened, as Okoye got just enough on Cyril Ngonge’s angled drive to slow it down, allowing Kabasele to clear off the line.

Udinese doubled their lead late on when Davis went on the counter down the left and put in the low cross, so Ekkelenkamp intelligently dinked it over the on-rushing Paleari.

Torino kept it open to the end, as Valentino Lazaro whipped in a cross from the left for the Cesare Casadei towering header.

The Granata almost equalised with the last kick of the game, as Duvan Zapata laid it off for Casadei, forcing a desperate block out of Oumar Solet.

Zaniolo 50 (U), Ekkelenkamp 82 (U), Casadei 87 (T)