Udinese had to wait until the 75th minute for substitute Gaetano D'Agostino to break the deadlock before earning a deserved victory against 10-man Lecce.
Giovanni Pasquale scored the second deep into stoppage time, pouncing on a bad error from Lecce goalkeeper Francesco Benussi to add gloss to a scoreline that just about reflected the home team's dominance.
It looked as though Pasquale Marino's side would be in for a frustrating afternoon as Lecce came to the Friuli stadium with their first priority to defend, and did so comfortably in the opening period.
Marino brought D'Agostino on at the break in an attempt to revitalize his attacking options and it proved a successful move when, with 15 minutes remaining, the 26-year-old blasted in a left-footed free-kick.
Three minutes later Lecce suffered a further blow when Luca Ariatti was shown a straight red card after he appeared to stand on Alexis Sanchez who was lying on the ground.
The visitors thought they had a penalty claim in stoppage time when Ndiaye Papa Waigo went down under pressure from Felipe, but the referee waved play on.
And their day would end on a calamitous note when Udinese got a second goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time, when Benussi's terrible blunder handed Pasquale the simple task of tapping into the net.
Udinese began the day looking to extend a seven-game unbeaten run at home that included victory in midweek over Lech Poznan to move them into the last 16 of the UEFA Cup.
Simone Pepe shot into the wall with an early free-kick while Andrea Coda headed over from a Sanchez corner.
At the other end, Udinese goalkeeper Emanuele Belardi had to be alert to collect a Simone Tiribocchi header after he connected with a Dimitrios Papadopoulos cross.
On the half hour Sanchez shot weakly to sum up the potency of the home attack as they failed to create any more chances for the remainder of the half.
D'Agostino came on for Mauricio Isla at the break, but still the home side attacked more with hope than purpose - Kwadwo Asamoah tried his luck from 35 yards but his powerful shot lacked direction.
Benussi was forced into meaningful action for the first time after 62 minutes when, after excellent lead-up work from Sanchez, he pushed Antonio Floro Flores' volley out for a corner.
Three minutes later Benussi was again on hand to deny Flores, this time palming away his goalbound header after Sanchez's cross.
With Sanchez now controlling proceedings from the middle of the park, Udinese's threat was far greater and the goal that would put them ahead came after he was fouled by Fabiano.
D'Agostino stepped up and curled a left-footed shot beyond Benussi to finally break the deadlock.
Lecce then had Ariatti sent off three minutes later when he appeared to stand on Sanchez.
D'Agostino then headed wide when well placed for a second before the away side thought they had a penalty in injury time.
Waigo went down under pressure from Felipe only for the referee to ignore his claims for a spot kick.
Udinese then got a second goal in the fourth minute of injury time when Benussi's blunder gifted Pasquale a goal.
