Udinese 2 : 2 Cagliari - Avelar penalty earns Cagliari point

Posted Monday, January 19, 2015 by PA

Cagliari left it late to claim a point from their trip to Udinese as they snatched a 2-2 draw on Sunday.

Joao Pedro gave Gianfranco Zola's men the lead just before half-time, but two goals in as many minutes from Allan and Thomas Heurtaux gave Udinese the lead.

They were unable to defend it to the end of the 90 minutes, though, with Danilo Avelar scoring a penalty in stoppage time to earn Cagliari a point.

Zola welcomed back those players he had left out of a midweek Coppa Italia defeat, which he later said he had been forced to overlook to concentrate on league matters.

One surprise was to see Daniele Conti on the bench, however, after his experimental start in the heart of the defence in midweek cost him his place in the starting XI.

His ideas from a deep midfield position appeared to be what Cagliari were lacking most, however, as Udinese set the tone of the game in their building-site Stadio Friuli, showing a greater deal of tactical completion under Andrea Stramaccioni than their current stadium.

When the Sardinians finally did decide to break out of their organised defence, they took the lead before half-time with Pedro sending his shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the penalty area, shocking Udinese goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis and the entire Stadio Friuli.

Udinese hit back with two goals in as many minutes early in the second half to turn the game on its head.

Allan brought them level with a shot from outside the area beating former Udinese custodian Zeljko Brkic.

Brkic was beaten again almost instantly as Heurtaux broke free from his marker to head in Antonio Di Natale's cross.

It took Cagliari a while to recover from the double blow, but they made a spirited comeback, going close to levelling with five minutes to go when Karnezis did well to deny Diego Farias.

Their efforts were ultimately rewarded in stoppage time when Heurtaux was adjudged to have handled the ball inside the area.

Avelar stepped up to the spot and grabbed Cagliari what could prove to be a precious point, denying Udinese a first win in five.