| Vincenzo Iaquinta secured a victory for new Coach Alberto Malesani on his Udinese debut. Malesani made his first appearance on the Friuli bench after Giovanni Galeone was sacked and his team was without a victory since mid-December. Messina's morale was boosted by last week's 1-1 draw with Roma, although Alessandro Parisi was suspended and Caglioni had to play following Marco Storari's sale to Milan.
He made an early save on Antonio Di Natale, then the former Empoli man smashed against the upright with a stunning free kick from 30 metres. The Friulani dominated the first half, but were unable to turn all that possession into goals with Vincenzo Iaquinta and Di Natale. The fog descended on Udine and made it quite difficult to see what was happening on the pitch, though just before the break Nicolas Cordova had Messina's only real chance with a free kick that skimmed the bar. Udinese carried on in the second half with Caglioni parrying two headers from corner kicks on Iaquinta and Cesare Natali. The Friulani finally broke through 15 minutes from time, as Iaquinta's powerful header from a Siqueira corner kick slotted under the crossbar in the thick of the fog. Soon after, Di Natale's wayward shot was redirected into the path of Iaquinta to skim the upright. | 
