Unsung Udinese moved provisionally back to the top of the Serie A table thanks to a 4-1 victory over 10-man Cesena, which was more difficult than the scoreline might suggest. Udinese got off to a perfect start when Antonio Di Natale opened the scoring with less than a minute on the clock. Eder leveled for lowly Cesena shortly before the break.

Kwadwo Asamoah restored Udinese’s lead early in the second half before Maurizio Lauro was dismissed for a second bookable offense. Dusan Basta and Di Natale sealed the win. Udinese moves a point clear of AC Milan and Juventus ahead of the rest of Sunday’s fixtures. Cesena has now lost four of its past five games and sits three points off safety.

Udinese scored almost straight from kickoff, as Antonio Floro Flores picked out Di Natale in the area and the Udinese captain fired a low shot into the left corner. However, chances were few and far between after that in a dull first half, until Cesena leveled six minutes before the break.

Lauro’s stunning long-range shot cracked off the crossbar and rebounded to Luca Ceccarelli, who nodded it on for Eder to fire in the equalizer from the center of the area. And Cesena should have been in front seconds later but Adrian Mutu blazed over the bar from a perfect position in the area.

Instead, Udinese reclaimed the lead nine minutes after the break. Asamoah collected Pablo Armero’s pass and took a swift look up before firing a shot under the goalkeeper and into the far corner. Cesena’s hopes of getting back into the game evaporated on the hour mark when Lauro was handed a second yellow card and dismissed.

Basta extended Udinese’s lead in stunning fashion in the 75th minute with a perfect lobbed shot into the far corner from the edge of the area, and Di Natale scored his 12th goal of the season shortly afterward to seal the result.