Udinese 5 : 3 Livorno - Udinese pile misery on Livorno

Three goals in 12 first-half minutes set Udinese on course for a 5-3 home rout of Serie A strugglers Livorno on Sunday.

The visitors looked like they were going to have a good afternoon when Paulo Sergio Betanin put them ahead in the 13th minute.

Udinese captain Antonio Di Natale missed an opportunity to equalise from the penalty spot but in the 19th minute he scored in open play.

Emmanuel Badu then put Udinese in front in the 21st minute only for Betanin to pull Livorno level before the half-hour mark.

Udinese hit back as Roberto Pereyra, Gabriel and Di Natale all found the net before half-time.

Djamel Mesbah cut the gap two minutes from time but Livorno fell to defeat and the foot of the table.

Livorno are four points adrift of safety with two games remaining, while Udinese's second win in seven games has lifted the Friuli outfit to 13th in the standings.

The Tuscan visitors had a promising start when Betanin's powerful free-kick beat Udinese goalkeeper Simone Scuffet.

Udinese could have drawn level in the 17th minute after Livorno defender Andrea Coda had brought down Maurizio Domizzi in the box but visiting goalkeeper Luca Anania guessed correctly and kept out Di Natale's spot-kick.

Di Natale made ammends shortly after when he got behind Bruno Fernandes' cross and smashed a five-yard effort past Anania.

Udinese went in front two minutes later when Fernandes set up Badu in the area and his right-footed shot beat Anania.

Livorno made it 2-2 when Betanin's curled free-kick beat Scuffet.

Udinese went back in front four minutes later when Livorno's defence left Pereyra unmarked in the box and he shot towards the far post to beat Anania.

The hosts showed no signs of slowing down and extended their lead with two further goals in the space of a minute.

Gabriel Silva got behind Allan's cross and drilled the ball past Anania and seconds later, Di Natale made it 5-2 when he easily got past his marker and hit a 12-yard shot into the bottom-right corner of goal.

Livorno showed more focus after the break but the damage was done.

They only managed to reduce the arrears when Mesbah shot from close range past Scuffet.