Serie A: Udinese's winless run continues against fellow strugglers Empoli, Lecce and Sassuolo play out feisty 1-1 draw

Empoli and Udinese played out a 0-0 draw at the Stadio Carlo Castellani in a result that left both teams stuck near the foot of the Serie A table.

In seven previous league fixtures, the two sides have shared just five goals and one win, so it perhaps came as no surprise that neither outfit could break the deadlock.

The result leaves Udinese 17th on five points, while Empoli move up a place to 18th but could finish the weekend rooted to the bottom depending on other results.

Aurelio Andreazzoli made three changes to the Empoli side that lost 3-0 away to Bologna last time out in a bid to arrest a run of six defeats in seven, which featured just one goal.

In came Ardian Ismajli, Alberto Grassi and Matteo Cancellieri to the starting XI but it couldn’t transform the hosts’ fortunes.

Empoli enjoyed almost 60 per cent of the possession and fired 18 shots on the Udinese goal as they went in search of a vital three points but were restricted mostly to efforts from distance.

Andrea Sottil made two changes to Udinese’s starting line-up, with Lazar Samardzic and Florian Thauvin getting the nod.

The visitors came into the fixture yet to pick up a Serie A win this season and created more clear-cut chances but demonstrated why they’ve struggled of late. From 11 shots, only one drew a save from Etrit Berisha.

The result extended Udinese’s winless streak to eight games, although they have drawn five.

Empoli travel to Fiorentina next, while Udinese welcome Lecce.

In the late game, Lecce recovered from going a goal behind to earn a point in what was a feisty clash as the hosts welcomed Sassuolo to the Stadio Comunale Via del Mare.

After a promising start to the campaign that featured three wins and two draws, the home side came into this clash looking to halt a run of two straight defeats to Juventus and Napoli.

However, Roberto D’Aversa’s Lecce were on the backfoot early as Sassuolo snatched the initiative. Uros Racic had a great chance to open the scoring in the 18th minute when it looked like he had the goal at his mercy, only for Marin Pongracic to make an incredible block.

But the visitors eventually got their just rewards when Federico Baschirotto was – perhaps harshly – adjudged to have handled the ball in the Lecce box. Up stepped Domenico Berardi, who made no mistake from the spot to put Sassuolo ahead in the 22nd minute.

It was a frantic opening 45 minutes and Lecce eventually found their rhythm and pushed for an equaliser. Nikola Krstovic hit the post in the 39th minute before Andrea Consigli was forced into a good save by Valentin Gendrey.

Tempers flared towards the end of the half and Consigli was called into action again, this time to deny Pontus Almqvist, who fizzed a low shot that was heading in at the near post.

Lecce did get their equaliser less than three minutes into the second half. It was an out-swinging corner that was the undoing of Sassuolo as Krstovic controlled the ball exquisitely from a knockdown header and calmly found the bottom corner to regain parity at 1-1.

And although both teams probed for a winner, that’s how it finished. The result means Lecce remain seventh and Sassuolo move up to ninth.

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