A solid, gritty team performance and a superb strike by Nicolo Zaniolo saw Udinese overcame Atalanta by a solitary goal at Bluenergy Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The decisive moment came five minutes before the break. Jurgen Ekkelenkamp played in Hassane Kamara with a clever pass, the Ivorian's low cross picked out Zaniolo in the centre of the box and Italian finished with aplomb.
Victory takes Udinese up to 15 points, temporarily level with Bologna and Juventus in sixth awaiting the rest of the weekend's results.
Udinese 1-0 Atalanta (HT 1-0)
Scorer: Zaniolo 40.
Udinese (3-5-2): Okoye; Bertola (Palma 75), Kabasele, Solet; Zanoli (Ehizibue 75), Ekkelenkamp (Piotrowski 69), Karlstrom, Atta, Kamara; Zaniolo (Bayo 69), Buksa (Zarraga 86).
Subs not used: Nunziante, Sava, Padelli, Goglichidze, Lovric, Gueye, Bravo, Zemura, Miller, Modesto.
Coach: Runjaic.
Atalanta (3-4-2-1): Carnesecchi; Koussounou (Brescianini 84), Hien, Djimsiti; Zappacosta, Ederson, Pasalic, Zalewski (Bellanova 77); Samardzic (De Ketelaere 77), Sulemana (Lookman 59); Scamacca (Krstovic 59).
Subs not used: Rossi, Sportiello, Musah, Obric, Bernasconi, Ahanor.
Coach: Juric.
Referee: Fabbri
Assistants: Yoshikawa, Ricci
Fourth official: Calzavara
VAR: Serra
AVAR: Piccinini
Booked: Kamara 64, Krstovic 66, De Ketelaere 90+1, Ederson 90+4.
Added time: 1+4 minutes.
Match tickets: 6,345 (€134,017)
Season tickets: 13,822 (€148,252)
Total attendance: 20,167 (€282,269)