Patrick Vieira won his first match as Genoa coach on Sunday with a 2-0 success at 10-man Udinese which moved his new team away from the Serie A relegation zone.

Genoa are 13th and three points above the bottom three thanks to Andrea Pinamonti’s early close range finish and Lautaro Giannetti’s 67th-minute own goal.

Vieira, who replaced sacked Alberto Gilardino during last month’s international break, was helped by Isaak Toure being sent off for elbowing Alessandro Zanoli with barely a minute gone.

Udinese are ninth on 17 points but are on a worrying run of form, with Sunday’s defeat the fourth in a five-match winless run for Kosta Runjaic’s team.

Next, Napoli are at Torino aiming to make sure they stay top of the pile for another week before champions Inter Milan face high-flying Fiorentina in Florence.

Inter and Fiorentina are both a point behind Napoli, as are Lazio who are at Parma in one of two traditional Sunday afternoon kick-offs.

Sixth-placed Juventus finish the day’s action with a home clash at struggling Lecce.

AFP