Maduka Okoye, was in action for Udinese in a Coppa Italia round of 32 match against Cagliari on Wednesday.

The game marked Okoye’s first appearance for the club since transferring from English Championship side Watford in August, and his first game in 14 months.

Surprisingly, despite his long absence from the field, the 23-year-old didn’t show any signs of rustiness.

In fact, he was the standout player on the pitch, making eight remarkable saves to keep his team in the game.

Despite impressive display from the Nigerian Udinese eventually lost 2-1 to Cagliari.

Udinese took the lead with nice header from defender Axel Guessand, however, Nicolas Viola equalized for Claudio Ranieri’s side with a slick free-kick in the 80th minute.

Maduka Okoye then denied Cagliari a goal in the closing moments, extending game to extra time.

When it seemed the game was heading for a penalty shootout after a tense 30 minutes, Gianluca Lapadula scored the winning goal for Cagliari with the last kick of the game, breaking Udinese hearts as they secured a dramatic victory.

It was an impressive audition back for Maduka Okoye who could now be in contention for his first league action in the Serie A as well as wrestling back his number 1 position for in the Super Eagles.