Serie A: Hellas Verona battle back for 2-1 victory at Udinese

Lazaros Christodoulopoulos inspired Hellas Verona to a 2-1 come-from-behind victory at Udinese on Sunday as they ended a three-match losing run in Serie A.

Udinese captain Antonio Di Natale put the hosts ahead in the 31st minute before Christodoulopoulos set up Luca Toni for the equaliser before half-time.

The Greece international then put Hellas in front for good with his first goal of the season two minutes after the restart.

The outcome, Udinese's second loss at home this season, lifted Hellas to 13th place, five points clear of the drop zone.

Udinese, meanwhile, remain eighth but could fall further down the table if Fiorentina beat Cesena later on Sunday.

Christodoulopoulos sent an early warning when he forced Udinese goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis to fully stretch to clear his 20-yard bullet strike.

Hellas produced a good chance to break the deadlock in the 26th minute but Toni's close-range header from Emil Hallfredsson's cross went wide.

At the other end, Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu drilled a right-footed shot from outside the area that forced Hellas goalkeeper Francesco Benussi to fully stretch to clear.

Udinese went in front in the 31st minute when Di Natale got past his marker and headed Bruno Fernandes' cross past a helpless Benussi.

Hellas reacted and got back on level terms on the stroke of half-time when Christodoulopoulos. spotted Toni in the box and his left-footed shot towards the near post beat Karnezis.

The visitors picked up where they left off after the restart and were.rewarded when Christodoulopoulos. burst into the Udinese penalty area and unleashed a right-footed shot to beat Karnezis.

Udinese wasted a good chance to pull level before the hour but Giovanni Pasquale's dangerous cross failed to find a team-mate in the box.

The home side continued to press forward and were almost successful four minutes from time.

However, Benussi made sure his team took all three points when he made a vital save from Silvan Widmer's close-range effort.