Game 20, Serie A
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Stadio Fruili, Udine
Udinese Lazio 2-3
A penalty, an own goal and a Hernanes piece of brilliance give Lazio unhoped for win
In Serie A the Biancocelesti had struggled. On December 22 just before the Christmas break Vladimir Petkovic had been sacked and replaced by Edy Reja. The results were not great but there was also the fact that the Swiss had accepted to train his national team from June and so was not thought to be entirely concentrated on his Roman duties. The 1-4 away defeat at Verona accelerated his departure. His legacy would however remain with the Coppa Italia triumph over city rivals Roma.
So far, Lazio had played 19 games. The Biancocelesti had won 6, drawn 6 and lost 7. Reja however had won on his debut beating Inter 1-0 at home and then drawn 0-0 away to Bologna. Lazio were on 24 points, just above mid-table in 9th place.
A balanced game was expected today in this mid-table clash but Udinese had to be careful as they were now only four points above the drop zone while Lazio were still looking for their first away win of the season.
The match
An overcast but dry day in Friuli and about 12,000 spectators present.
Udinese were without Brazilian midfielders Allan and Gabriel Silva. They also had two future top players, Bruno Fernandes (now Manchester United) and Piotr Zielinski (former Napoli and now Inter) on the bench.
Lazio had several players missing: keeper Federico Marchetti, defenders Stefan Radu and Abdoulay Konko, midfielders Alvaro Gonzalez and Cristian Ledesma. The Biancocelesti also had Hernanes on the bench.
Lazio started on the front foot but exposed themselves to the hosts counterattacks. Giuseppe Biava almost risked an own goal heading towards Etrit Berisha and then in the 8th minute Roberto Pereyra set up Maicosuel who was tripped by Luis Pedro Cavanda while he was charging into the area on the left. Totò Di Natale coolly put away the spot kick with a low shot to Berisha's right. Udinese 1 Lazio 0.
Lazio reacted but wasted chances with Sergio Floccari and Senad Lulic.
On the usual counterattack, Udinese almost made it two just before the break but Maicosuel missed the opportunity by putting it wide when clear on goal. Half time Udinese 1 Lazio 0.
Lazio had been positive and had more shots and possession but Udinese were very effective catching the Biancocelesti on the break.
There were no changes at halftime but soon after the interval came a huge potential game changer. A minute after Ederson had come on for Floccari, in the 54th minute Eddy Onazi was sent off for two bookings in five minutes.
At this point Reja took off defender Michaël Ciani and put on Hernanes with Lazio changing to a 4-4-1 setup. A few minutes earlier Udinese had taken off Di Natale for Luis Muriel.
In the 63rd minute Lazio equalised courtesy of a penalty. Miro Klose teed up by Hernanes entered the area and was pulled by Maurizio Domizzi and then also obstructed irregularly by the keeper. Antonio Candreva put a mid-height strike to Brkic's right. Udinese 1 Lazio 1.
Despite being a man down, Lazio continued to push forward and went close with an Ederson curler but it was the "Zebrette" who scored again. In the 69th minute Biava and André Dias hesitated and Maicosuel chested the ball to Emmanuel Badu who did not think twice, chested the ball down and superbly volleyed it past Berisha who was possibly too far off his line. Udinese 2 Lazio 1. Things not looking good for Lazio.
Lazio however went on the attack again. They went close twice with Hernanes, from the long range and on the rebound from a Brkic parry and then with a header by Klose who should have done better.
In the 77th minute the Bianconeri replaced Douglas Santos with Andrea Lazzari.
In the 82nd minute it was in fact the Lombard Udinese replacement who gifted Lazio their equaliser. Lulic crossed, Željko Brkić came out badly and punched the ball out low onto Lazzari and it then bounced back into the goal. Udinese 2 Lazio 2. A lucky but deserved goal for the Romans.
In the 85th minute the hosts put on attacking Nico Lopez and took off midfielder Gianpiero Pinzi. A minute later Lazio were forced to replace an injured Ederson with defender Lorik Cana who however placed himself in front of the defence.
Both sides believed they could win it but Lazio had the "Prophet" back at the top of his game. In the 90th minute the Brazilian danced at the edge of the box and sent a lovely left foot into the right-hand corner. A wonderful goal and Udinese 2 Lazio 3. An unpredictable turn of events.
In the last four minutes of added time Cana dropped back to help out Biava and Dias on Udinese's last desperate attempts and Lazio pulled off a surprising win.
Lazio's first away win since May but with twenty minutes to go it had seemed extremely unlikely. A goal and a man down, however, Lazio had always seemed to believe and a fortuitous own goal and a Hernanes gem had ultimately rewarded them.
Lazio were still 9th on 27 points while Udinese were still 15th but now only had a three-point cushion on the last relegation slot (Sassuolo on 17 points).
Who played for Udinese
Brkic, Heurtaux, Danilo, Domizzi, Basta, Pinzi (85' Nico Lopez), Badu, Douglas (77' Lazzari), Pereyra, Maicosuel, Di Natale (58' Muriel)
Substitutes: Kelava, Naldo, Bubnjic, Widmer, Mlinar, Jadson, Scuffet, Bruno Fernandes, Zielinski
Manager: Guidolin
Who played for Lazio
Berisha, Biava, Dias, Ciani (60' Hernanes), Cavanda, Onazi, Biglia, Lulic, Candreva, Klose, Floccari (53' Ederson, 86' Cana)
Substitutes: Strakosha, Elez, Vinicius, Crecco, F.Anderson, Keita, Perea
Manager: Reja
Referee: Rocchi
Goals: 8' Di Natale (pen), 63' Candreva (pen), 69' Badu, 82' Lazzari (og), 90' Hernanes
Red Card: 54' Onazi (L)
Sources
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