The last 20 minutes or so of the match in Udinese gave away a goal at the end, which earned Roma the victory.
Eleven days after the first part of the match, interrupted following Evan N’Dicka’s illness, Udinese and Roma returned to the field to play the last 20 minutes of the match in Udine.
Daniele De Rossi returned to the pitch with a super attacking set-up, with Tammy Abraham alongside Sardad Azmoun and Paulo Dybala.
The biggest change of the match, however, concerned the Friulian bench: after the dismissal of Gabriele Cioffi, in fact, it was Fabio Cannavaro who led the team in his debut as Udinese coach.
Roma started very strong, attacking the Juventus area and hunting for the winning goal.
The first goal, however, fell to Udinese, who after several minutes of extreme suffering suddenly came out with Lorenzo Lucca, who stole a ball two steps from the goal and shot a surgical diagonal, being denied the joy of goal from a masterful save by Mile Svilar.
The reaction of the Capitoline team was almost immediate, but they had their first important opportunity in the 84th minute, when Azmoun came close to making it 2-1, forcing Maduka Okoye into another decisive intervention.
The challenge was confirmed in the four minutes of injury time granted by the referee, in which the teams, very stretched, had chances on both sides.
The Giallorossi closed the attack, with two corner kicks as time expired: everything was saved in the first case, while in the second, Dybala’s cross landed directly on the head of Bryan Cristante, who deposited the ball into the net.
Victory at the last second, therefore, for the Giallorossi, who achieved three fundamental points for Champions League qualification, while Udinese continues to have to deal with the ghosts of relegation. After the final whistle, the Roma players paid homage to the Juventus player, giving him a long round of applause to thank them for the standing ovation given to N’Dicka after his illness eleven days ago.
The only negative note for De Rossi’s team was the injury of Chris Smalling, who was forced to leave the pitch due to a muscle problem.
