Udine, Italy (SportsNetwork.com) - A second-half goal from Antonio Di Natale was enough to hand Udinese a 1-0 win over AC Milan at the Stadio Friuli on Saturday.
Di Natale's goal moves Udinese 10 points clear of the bottom three and to within three points of Milan, which suffered its 10th defeat in league play this season.
The Rossoneri has now lost two games in a row ahead of its Champions League round of 16 encounter with Atletico Madrid on Tuesday.
Milan had a great chance to take the lead on the half-hour mark when Cristian Zapata headed a cross from Keisuke Honda over the net at the far post.
Udinese provided few threats in attack in the opening 45 minutes, but the hosts gradually got themselves more involved in the final third and made the pressure count in the 67th minute.
A nice team move saw Robert Pereyra's through ball pick out Bruno Fernandes, who quickly drove a low cross to the front of goal for Di Natale to finish off from six yards.
The home side could have added to its total with good chances falling to both Allan Loureiro and Luis Muriel, although their misses didn't prove costly as Udinese won for the first time in four games.
Saturday's other match saw Catania and Cagliari play to a 1-1 draw with Catania's Gonzalo Bergessio scoring the equalizer in the 62nd minute to cancel out a 53rd-minute goal from Matias Vecino.
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