Udinese secured a 1-0 victory over Parma, extending their impressive Serie A run with a well-taken penalty by Florian Thauvin.
The result handed Cristian Chivu his first defeat since taking charge of Parma.
Chivu had made an impressive start to his tenure with a 2-0 win over Bologna, but his squad remained heavily depleted.
Milan Djuric, Adrian Bernabé, Valentin Mihaila, Hernani, Gabriel Charpentier, Yordan Osorio, Mateusz Kowalski, Alessandro Circati, and Adrian Benedyczak were all unavailable.
Meanwhile, Udinese came into the match in fine form, having collected 10 points from their last four outings.
However, they had to contend with further injury setbacks, as Razvan Sava joined Isaak Touré and Maduka Okoye on the sidelines, forcing them to rely on third-choice goalkeeper Daniele Padelli.
Parma’s early pressure saw Arthur Atta test Zion Suzuki twice, but the goalkeeper was up to the task, parrying both efforts. Suzuki was called into action again when he punched away a dangerous free kick from Thauvin.
The breakthrough came after Thauvin’s curling effort struck Botond Balogh’s elbow during an awkward fall, prompting a VAR review that led to a penalty.
Unlike the tense situation in their previous win over Lecce, when Lorenzo Lucca’s insistence on taking the spot-kick frustrated his teammates,this time, there was no argument.
Thauvin confidently converted, slotting home with the inside of his left foot.
Parma came out aggressively after the break, nearly equalizing within the first minute of the restart.
Dennis Man latched onto a through ball, beating the offside trap, but Padelli reacted quickly to make a crucial near-post save.
Balogh redeemed himself with a vital block on Thauvin, and from the resulting corner, Kingsley Ehizibue volleyed just wide from the edge of the box.
Udinese suffered a setback when Atta, who had looked lively, had to leave the pitch after twisting his ankle while attempting to strike on a Thauvin assist.
Thauvin himself remained a constant threat, forcing another save from Suzuki with a long-range shot.
The hosts should have doubled their lead in the 70th minute. Oier Zarraga’s cross took a deflection and landed perfectly for Thauvin, but despite having time to control and compose himself, he fired wide from close range.
Thauvin did find the back of the net in the 78th minute with a stunning left-footed strike into the far top corner, but the goal was disallowed as Lucca was ruled offside in the buildup.
Parma nearly snatched a dramatic equalizer when Pontus Almqvist broke free, rounded Padelli, and seemed certain to score, but Oumar Solet recovered brilliantly to make a last-gasp goal-line clearance.
Padelli, called into action again late in the game, produced two crucial saves in quick succession, first denying Mateo Pellegrino’s shot from distance, then reacting swiftly to keep out his header from the resulting corner.
Udinese held firm to secure a hard-fought 1-0 victory, further solidifying their momentum in Serie A.
