udinese leave dinamo clutching at straws published: wednesday 3 december 2008, 23.45cet udinese calcio 2-1 nk dinamo zagreb udinese's european adventure will continue into 2009 after a narrow win in ıtaly, which all but ends the croatian side's disappointing uefa cup run.
a 2-1 win against nk dinamo zagreb sealed udinese calcio's passage to the uefa cup round of 32, but the campaign is all but over for the visitors.
too late fabio quagliarella struck in the fifth minute at the friuli stadium before christian obodo put the game beyond the opposition's reach with eleven minutes remaining to book udinese's progress from group d. ıgor bišćan reduced the deficit in added time but it was too little too late for dinamo.
early breakthrough udinese could not have asked for a better start with quagliarella latching on to antonio di natale's cross and firing a right-footed shot past goalkeeper tomislav butina. the goal inspired the ıtalian hosts who almost doubled their lead soon after, butina making an acrobatic save from obodo's long-range effort.
good goalkeeping the croatian side, playing their final group match, did threaten ten minutes in when mihael mikić forced goalkeeper samir handanovič to stretch to clear his powerful strike from distance. an unmarked di natale should have made it 2-0 shortly afterwards but failed to beat butina in a one-on-one, his attempt being parried away by the no1.
consolation goal on the half-hour mark, dinamo almost pulled level but mirko hrgović's stinging drive went centimetres wide of the far post, and the same player tried his luck again after the interval to similar effect. however, simone pepe set up obodo to extend udinese's advantage and while bišćan headed a belated reply following confusion in the home area, the die was cast.
theoretical chance nine points mean that udinese are sure to qualify, and they will be guaranteed top spot with a draw or better in their final fixture at nec nijmegen. dinamo have completed their group d programme, but three points could still see them through if nec and fc spartak moskva lose by substantial margins on matchday 5.
