Udinese edged out Lecce 1-0 in a tense away match

Udinese edged out Lecce 1-0 in a tense away match on Friday, a victory overshadowed by controversy surrounding the winning penalty.  Lorenzo Lucca's decision to take the penalty, despite protests from his teammates, became the game's main talking point.

Just after the half-hour mark, Udinese were awarded a penalty.  While regular penalty taker Florian Thauvin was preparing to take the shot, Lucca intervened, ignoring objections from teammates including Alexis Sanchez, Oumar Solet, and Jaka Bijol, who even tried to physically stop him.  Lucca's shot was successful, beating Lecce goalkeeper Wladimiro Falcone.  However, his celebration was cut short as Udinese coach Kosta Runjaic substituted him with Iker Bravo in the 36th minute.

The second half continued with controversy, as Lecce became increasingly frustrated with several refereeing decisions.  Martin Payero, already on a yellow card, narrowly escaped a second booking after a contentious challenge with Gaby Jean.  Payero later came close to extending Udinese's lead with a powerful shot that went just wide.

Udinese now sit tenth in the Serie A table with 36 points, while Lecce are fifteenth with 25 points.