Udinese 0 - 1 Palermo : Luca Rigoni on target as Palermo beat Udinese to earn back-to-back Serie A wins

Posted Monday, August 31, 2015 by PA

Luca Rigoni scored the only goal of the game as 10-man Palermo upset Udinese 1-0 at the Friuli stadium to pick up their second straight win in Serie A.

The Italian midfielder put the visitors ahead in the eighth minute and despite being reduced to 10 men from the 70th minute after defender Aljaz Struna was shown his second yellow card, the Sicilians held on for victory.

Udinese, inspired by last week's 1-0 triumph at Juventus, dominated possession but fell behind after a great move from Franco Vazquez allowed Palermo to go in front.

Vazquez got past his marker and surged inside the Udinese area before crossing the ball towards Rigoni, who headed in from close range to beat Udinese goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis.

Cyril Thereau twice had the opportunity to equalise.

In the 17th minute, Stefano Sorrentino palmed Thereau's close-range shot over the crossbar while one minute later, Giancarlo Gonzalez made a goal-line clearance from the Frenchman's goal-bound attempt with the Palermo keeper already beaten.

Struna was handed his marching orders after a late challenge on Bruno Fernandes.

Palermo, who had beaten Genoa 1-0 in their Serie A opener, defended deeply to secure another three points.