Lookman caged as Atalanta start new year with barren draw at Udinese

Atalanta started the new year with a frustrating barren draw away at Udinese on Saturday afternoon.

La Dea were far from their best as they looked out of sort in attack despite having two of their best forwards on the pitch: Charles De Ketelaere and Ademola Lookman.

The reigning African Footballer of the Year had a  quiet game as he struggled to find spaces in the water-tight defense of the home side.

Jaka Bivol had the first real chance to score in the match but his header on the 33rd minute fell into the hands of Marco Carnesecchi.

Former Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez missed a glaring opportunity from a rebound moments later as Udinese sought relentlessly for the first goal of the match.

Marco Carnesecchi pulled off another brilliant save to deny Sandi Lovric header from crossing the line.

Atalanta survived the onslaught as the first half ended goalless.

The second half saw little goal-mouth action until the final moments of the match.

Razvan Sava showed great reflex to stop Lazar Samardzic’s goal-bound shot from the edge of the box.

The match ended in a stalemate with Udinese being the better side on the balance of play.

Gian Piero Gasperini’s men will look to bounce back when they welcome Juventus on Tuesday.