Novara bag win on Tesser return

Attilio Tesser made a winning return to the Novara bench as his side defeated high-flying Udinese 1-0 to leave Cesena alone at the bottom of the Serie A table. Tesser was reappointed as Novara coach this week after Emiliano Mondonico was unable to turn around their fortunes, and the fans' favourite managed to inspire the Piedmontese side to their fourth win of the season. Jeda scored the winning goal in the 16th minute as Novara picked up their first win in three months to move three points ahead of Cesena at the foot of the table. However, they still face an uphill challenge to avoid relegation, with 11 points still separating them from safety. Giuseppe Mascara almost gave the home team a dream start in the third minute when he just shot just wide of the target with Samir Handanovic beat. Less than five minutes later Marco Rigoni tested Handanovic, who was fortunate to see Jeda fail to reach the ball after he could only parry it. Udinese may not have had a particularly long trip to the Netherlands in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday, but they nevertheless looked tired and Novara were keen to take advantage. They got the goal they were looking for in the 16th minute when Jeda met a corner to head past Handanovic. Handanovic was certainly being kept busy by a motivated Novara side with Rigoni almost adding a second moments later, but for the Slovenian goalkeeper's save. Antonio Di Natale, who should have been fresh after being rested on Thursday, was hardly given the chance to show why he is bidding to become the league's top goalscorer for the third season in a row as the Udinese midfield simply could not get the ball forward. Some wise and probably strong words from Udinese coach Francesco Guidolin during the interval ensured a more lively Bianconeri emerged for the second half. The introductions of Antonio Floro Flores and Paulo Barreto gave Di Natale some company, who was also given more time on the ball. Udinese had the ball in the back of the net in the 70th minute when Danilo finished off a goalmouth scramble, but he was adjudged to be in an offside position. The visitors threw everything forward in search of an equaliser with Handanovic also going up for a late corner, but they were unable to make the breakthrough as Novara held on for all three points.