Woeful Atalanta Gets Tough Month off to Poor Start With Draw at Udinese

Atalanta got a tough month off to a poor start as it could only draw 0-0 at Udinese in Serie A on Saturday.

It could even have been worse for Atalanta had Alexis Sánchez not wasted a glorious opportunity to give Udinese the lead on the stroke of halftime.

The Chile forward headed a cross onto the right post and then fired the rebound onto the underside of the crossbar from six yards out and with the goal gaping.

It was a woeful performance from Atalanta, which produced few chances and also had goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi to thank for a wonder save in the first half.

Atalanta remained but second, two points behind Napoli. The Serie A leader hosts relegation-threatened Hellas Verona on Sunday. It was also only two points ahead of Inter Milan, which also play a team at the wrong end of the table on Sunday, in Venezia.

Atalanta next plays Juventus and then Napoli in Serie A. It also has Champions League matches against Sturm Graz and Barcelona in January.

Nikola Krstovic scored twice to help Lecce to what could prove to be a crucial 3-1 win at fellow struggler Empoli.

Lecce moved up to 13th, level with Empoli and three points above the relegation zone.

Juventus was playing at Torino later in a derby match while, fresh from steering AC Milan to the Italian Super Cup, Sérgio Conceição will start his Serie A career as coach against Cagliari.