Udinese leave Lens trailing

Udinese Calcio stormed to a 3-0 win against French visitors RC Lens, handing new coach Loris Dominissini a comprehensive victory in his first European match at the helm of the Italian club.

Confident win
Antonio Di Natale gave the former UEFA Champions League challengers the lead ten minutes before half-time, although he was upstaged by Paulo Barreto as the 20-year-old Brazilian struck two goals of his own to move Udinese close to a place in the last 16 of the UEFA Cup. Lens had looked sharp early on, their leading scorer Daniel Cousin testing Morgan De Sanctis with an accurate drive from the edge of the penalty area. At the other end, Sulley Ali Muntari had a chance to head in a curled free-kick from Felipe but failed to trouble Charles Itandje in the visitors' goal.

Di Natale danger
Lens were more than holding their own against the hosts and Cousin again proved a danger when he forced De Sanctis to punch a fierce shot behind for a corner. Soon after, in the 35th minute, Fausto Rossini stormed down the right flank and crossed for Di Natale who finished emphatically from the edge of the penalty area to give Udinese the lead. The French side also started the second half strongly, only to again fall short as Olivier Thomert flashed a free-kick wide. Di Natale's final act before being replaced by Barreto was to tee up Nigerian Christian Obodo for a shot tipped over by Itjande.

Quick impact
It took the Brazilian substitute just six minutes to make his mark as he swept the ball into the net following Muntari's pass. Barreto completed the scoring with eight minutes remaining, slotting in after Obodo had unselfishly squared the ball into his path. A Benoît Assou-Ekotto volley was the closest Lens came to earning a lifeline, although it was not to be and they now have a huge hurdle to negotiate if they are to progress.