Udinese cruised into the last 16 of the Europa League following a convincing 3-0 victory away to PAOK Salonika in the second leg.
Italian side shrug off disappointing first-leg result at home
Udinese cruised into the last 16 of the Europa League following a convincing 3-0 victory away to PAOK Salonika in the second leg.
The Italian side, who lost to Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers and overcame Celtic in the Europa League group phase, had been held 0-0 at home by PAOK a week ago.
However, goals from Danilo, Antonio Floro Flores and Maurizio Domizzi earned Udinese a last-16 encounter against either AZ Alkmaar or Anderlecht.
Udinese were again without the team's leading scorer Antonio Di Natale as well as pivotal midfielder Mauricio Isla, both injured.
However, they enjoyed a strong start and went in front when Danilo got his head behind Giovanni Pasquale's corner - his powerful effort beating PAOK goalkeeper Dario Kresic.
The Italians continued to press forward and doubled their lead when Floro Flores' 25-yard strike towards the left corner of goal beat Kresic.
Unlucky
The hosts were unlucky not to cut the deficit when Bruno Cirillo's header from Pablo Garcia's cross hit the far post with Udinese goalkeeper Samir Handanovic already beaten.
PAOK coach Laszlo Boloni made his first substitution on the half-hour mark with forward Georgios Georgiadis replacing midfielder Konstantinos Stafylidis.
The first half ended with PAOK on the attack, but Apostolos Giannou's attempt from 15 yards went just wide as the scoreline remained the same heading into the interval.
Udinese were quick out of the blocks after the restart and extended their lead in the 51st minute.
The referee pointed to the spot after Miroslaw Sznaucner brought down Floro Flores in the area.
Domizzi stepped up to take the penalty and fired towards the top-right corner of goal where Kresic could not reach.
Shortly after the hour mark, Handanovic kept out Dimitrios Salgipidis' effort from the edge of the area.
The home side failed to break through in the final stages of the contest as Udinese marched on.
