Serie A: Udinese Cruise Past Empoli with 3-0 Win

Udinese secured a comfortable 3-0 win over Empoli, with Jurgen Ekkelenkamp and Florian Thauvin finding the back of the net to lift the Friulani to a valuable three points.

Udinese secured a convincing 3-0 victory over Empoli, thanks in large part to Jurgen Ekkelenkamp's opportunistic finishing. The Dutch midfielder found himself in the right place at the right time on two occasions, setting the stage for Florian Thauvin's header to seal the win.

Udinese entered the match on a high note, having earned an impressive 1-1 draw away to Napoli in their previous outing. However, they were forced to contend with several key absences, including Keinan Davis, Isaak Touré, and Maduka Okoye.

Empoli, meanwhile, were desperate to arrest their slide down the Serie A table. With just two points accumulated over their last nine rounds, the Azzurri found themselves slipping into the relegation zone. The team's woes were compounded by the absence of Luca Marianucci, who began serving a two-match ban, as well as a lengthy injury list that included Tino Anjorin, Ardian Ismajli, and several others.

A commanding home win for the Bianconeri 💪#UdineseEmpoli pic.twitter.com/TILABrYyrd

— Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN) February 16, 2025

Empoli started the match with promise, as Lorenzo Lucca unleashed an acrobatic scissor-kick volley from an Arthur Atta pull-back, but unfortunately, it sailed off target. Lorenzo Colombo also had two attempts blocked, while Emmanuel Gyasi's angled drive was expertly smothered by the Udinese defense.

Despite their dominance, Empoli's Christian Kouame squandered a gilt-edged opportunity when he drilled wide on a Liam Henderson counter-attack. Udinese goalkeeper Marco Silvestri then produced a spectacular save to deny Sandi Lovric's curling effort, which came against his former club.

The resulting corner proved to be the turning point, as Jurgen Ekkelenkamp stretched to redirect Arthur Atta's wayward effort into the bottom corner, giving Udinese the lead. The match remained surprisingly open, with Kouame sliding in to push Giuseppe Pezzella's assist into the goalkeeper's arms, before firing wide from a promising position courtesy of another Henderson assist.

Udinese's Florian Thauvin had a promising opportunity to score early in the second half, but he lost his balance under pressure from the Empoli defense and was unable to capitalize on the through ball. Moments later, Thauvin was presented with another chance, but Mattia De Sciglio's desperate block prevented him from tapping in Atta's pull-back from the by-line.

Empoli squandered a golden opportunity to equalize when Youssouf Maleh remarkably failed to head in a Kouame cross from point-blank range on a corner. Udinese also had a chance to extend their lead, but Lucca's shot from six yards clipped the outside of the upright after a deflected pull-back.

The match was marked by several close calls, including a double reaction save by Razvan Sava, who denied Colombo's angled drive and the subsequent follow-up by Gyasi. Udinese eventually doubled their lead when Lucca's strike was parried into the path of Jurgen Ekkelenkamp, who scored his second goal of the game.

Udinese sealed their 3-0 victory in the final minute of normal time, as Florian Thauvin nodded in Martin Payero's whipped cross from the right. Thauvin had a chance to score a brace in stoppage time, but his shot from a tricky angle was denied by Silvestri.