MADRID. – Great emotions were experienced last night at the Bluenergy Stadium, in Friuli, in the continuation of the Serie A championship match between Udinese and Roma, interrupted last April 14th in the 71st minute (with the result still at 1-1) due to the illness that struck Roma defender Evan Ndicka.
The Giallorossi blitz came in the fifth minute of injury time, thanks to Bryan Cristante’s winning header, for the final 1-2 in favor of the team coached by Daniele De Rossi. A success that relaunches Roma in the Champions League and sinks Udinese, increasingly relegated to the relegation zone.
Lots of pre-match controversy, but great sportsmanship on the pitch
The match had been preceded by heated controversies: Roma had not felt protected by the Italian Football League, which had placed the continuation of this match on the calendar within a very delicate week for the Romans, who would have been involved three days later away to Naples and the following Thursday in defending the colors of Italy in the Europa League semi-final against the Germans Bayer Leverkusen.
So much haste to recover Udinese-Roma, but no rush to decide the placement of Atalanta-Fiorentina (another decisive match for Champions League purposes), which is not yet known when it will be played, but certainly at the end of the championship, with the risk of seeing the values of Serie A completely distorted. A pinch of common sense (he had supported Roma) would have made it possible to please everyone, without penalizing a team which, thanks to its results in recent years, has kept the image of football high Italian in Europe.
Despite the importance of what was at stake (European placement for Roma, salvation for the Friulians), the match took place in an atmosphere of healthy sporting competition and great civility, also in memory of the dramatic moments experienced about ten days earlier for the illness that struck Ndicka, with the extraordinary response of the public and players in managing the delicate moment.
Cristante’s last breath header: Udinese mocked
The match (or rather, the last 19 minutes that remained to be played) got off to a fast start immediately, with Roma attacking and Udinese defending, ready to launch their deadly counterattack. The opportunities multiplied, on both sides. Svilar and Okoye did well on Lucca and Azmoun, then Pellegrini also came close to taking the lead. Until the 95th minute, when Dybala’s magical foot painted a corner-kissing divot at the near post for Cristante, whose header left Okoye stunned (1-2).
Rome, what sportsmanship: greetings to the Udinese fans at the end of the match
At the final whistle from referee Pairetto, a significant gesture of fair play by the Roma players, who headed to the Udinese fan section to give a round of applause to the Juventus supporters, who behaved with great civility on the day of Ndicka’s illness . A rare gesture on a football field and therefore should be doubly underlined. On a more purely sporting level, those achieved yesterday in Udine are three important points for Roma, but a huge insult for Fabio Cannavaro, whose debut in Serie A as coach was yesterday more bitter than ever.
With this result Roma consolidates 5th place (useful for going to the Champions League), increasing their lead over Atalanta to 4 points (one game less). The Giallorossi are 4 points away from fourth place, occupied by the surprising Bologna. Udinese, on the other hand, despite the change on the bench (Cioffi sacked, Fabio Cannavaro here), continues to lose precious points in the final minutes of the matches: the Friulians (in their third consecutive defeat) now occupy third-to-last place in the standings, 28 points, ex aequo with Frosinone.
