Nigerian goalkeeper Maduka Okoye secured his first clean sheet of the Serie A season as Udinese narrowly defeated newly-promoted Como FC 1-0 on Sunday at the Stadio Friuli.
Brenner da Silva’s volley from Kingsley Ehizibu’s cross in the 43rd minute proved to be the decisive goal in the match. Okoye played a pivotal role in the victory, making three crucial saves to preserve Udinese’s lead.
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The win lifted Udinese to fourth place in the Serie A standings, level on points with Inter, Juventus, and Torino but behind on goal difference.
This marked Okoye’s first clean sheet in league play after conceding in the team’s opening two matches. He had previously kept a clean sheet in Udinese’s 4-0 Coppa Italia victory over Avellino.
Okoye has been a consistent starter for Udinese since the middle of last season, ousting Italian goalkeeper Marco Silvestri from the first XI. His fellow Nigerian, Kingsley Ehizube who has been a key player for Udinese also played the entire duration of the game against Como.
