The former Giallorossi Atalanta coach did not miss the opportunity to occupy first place in the standings they make the most of it from the missteps of Napoli and Milan. Gasperini’s eleven needed just one goal in each half to break down Udinese’s tough resistance: despite clear dominance, the hosts managed to take the lead after the game. handball from Kamara sent Pellegrini to the penalty spot, who replaced Okoye. The team will try to settle the score with Friulian in the second half safe shot by Celik who bent the Juventus goalkeeper’s arm and scored his first goal in Serie A. In the end the Giallorossi let off the gas pedal a little and gave too much space to Udinese, who went very close to the goal twice, but found himself facing the great Svilar. Three points made Roma move to the top of the standings and Gasperini moved up one point quiet national holiday.
Hand over Kamara, Pellegrini brings Roma forward
Although the Giallorossi have won their last eight games against Udinese, Gasperini’s eleven-game campaign arrives at the Olimpico with a great opportunity to capitalize on Napoli’s defeat at Bologna and Milan’s draw at Parma. Of course, the spotlight was on prodigal Niccolò Zaniolo, who scored again in recent weeks at Udine: the former Giallorossi youth team product was showered with boos when he entered the pitch. Roma took a few minutes to test the resilience of the Friulian defence: in the 9th minute Wesley snatched the ball from Zaniolo and launched Hermoso, whose cross was deflected for a corner. The first chance came four minutes later when Wesley broke free down the left and crossed: Koné pounced on Solet’s short rebound but his beautiful shot was blocked by the defence. Roma took the break after a quarter of an hour of high-paced play but it was Celik who came closest to scoring when he headed in Wesley’s cross: less precise a few minutes after Pellegrini’s attempted header from Soulé’s shot was deflected by the defence.
However, Udinese appeared in the Svilar area with the usual and very lively Atta, who got past Wesley and fired a right-footed shot wide. Capitoline’s response came in the 30th minute when Cristante recovered Dovbyk’s blocked shot: his deflected shot hit the post. The Friulian’s response came five minutes later: Kamara attempted Sunday’s shot from great distance but Svilar wasn’t expecting it and was forced to make an uncoordinated save to avoid the worst. While Dovbyk went down due to a physical problem, a check is being carried out by VAR for a possible handball by Kamara on Mancini’s cross. Mr Collu was called to the monitor and called a penalty kick: Pellegrini appeared on the penalty spot and obviously replaced Okoye, 1-0 Roma. Dovbyk was unsuccessful and was replaced by Baldanzi but the module chosen by Gasperini remained unchanged. In full stoppage time, there were sparks on the pitch between Koné and Zaniolo but the referee managed to avoid the worst incident without drawing his card.
Celik doubles, Roma is there
On their return from the dressing room, the Giallorossi were once again the most aggressive but the first danger was created by Udinese: in the 51st minute Buksa fired a poisonous left-footed shot from the edge of the goal, which was saved in two stages by Svilar. Instead, Okoye was forced to leave the penalty area with his feet to prevent Wesley from receiving Pellegrini’s throw on the left. Roma continued to try to equalize the score with the team from Friuli but left space ready for Runjaic’s eleven players to exploit: in the 60th minute Zaniolo received a pass on the wing and tried to make a one-two with Karlstrom but N’Dicka understood everything. Roma’s response was crucial: Celik completed a triangle with Mancini and didn’t think twice before firing a shot at goal. Okoye touched it but was unable to prevent the ball ballooning into the net for the Turkish defender’s first goal in Serie A.
However, Udinese had not waved the white flag and took full advantage of an uncharacteristic error by N’Dicka: his suicidal horizontal pass fell prey to Zaniolo, who appeared alone in front of Svilar but had his goal denied by a fine exit from the Serbian goalkeeper. Gasperini tried to bring in new powers: El Shaarawy came on for the much-applauded Pellegrini while El Aynaoui replaced Soulé. Baldanzi’s performance as a center forward wasn’t bad: in the 78th minute, after a one-two with Cristante, his left-footed shot was deflected for a corner. Soon enough, it was El Shaarawy’s turn to test the reflexes of Okoye, who was not surprised: if Zaniolo’s exit from the pitch was greeted with another round of whistles, Udinese had every right to believe in him until the end. In the 85th minute, a save from Svilar was needed to prevent new substitute Bayo’s header from reopening the game: four minutes later Wesley’s carelessness saw Atta’s shot hit the post. But in the end Roma managed to bring home three important points which made them lead the standings.
Scoreboard
ROME (3-4-2-1): Svilar; Mancini, Ndicka, Hermoso; Celik (90′ Ghilardi), Cristante, Koné, Wesley (90′ Piotrowski); Soulé (74′ El Aynaoui), Pellegrini (74′ El Shaarawy); Dovbyk (43′ Baldanzi). Coach: Gian Piero Gasperini
UDINESE (3-5-2): Okay; Bertola, Kabasele (53′ Palma), Solet; Zanoli, Ekkelenkamp, Karlstrom (72′ Piotrowski), Atta, Kamara (82′ Zemura); Zaniolo (82′ Bayo), Buksa (72′ Davis). Coach: Costa Runjaik
Marker: 42′ Pellegrini (rig) (right), 61′ Celik (right)
Be warned: 27′ Cristante (right), 45+3′ Pellegrini (right), 62′ Hermoso (right), 62′ Karlstrom (N)
Expelled:-
Referee: Giuseppe Collu (Cagliari)
