Roma made a full score at the Dacia Area on Saturday night as they beat Udinese with a lone goal from Pedro Rodriguez. The Spaniard’s first netting in Serie A was worth the Giallorossi‘s first seasonal win, while Luca Gotti’s Bianconeri collected their third consecutive defeat despite showing some progress comparing to their previous two outings.
For his second home game in a row, Luca Gotti managed to recover at least Roberto Pereyra and Tolgay Arslan in midfield from his long injury list. The trainer also switched Ilija Nestorovski with Stefano Okaka in attack but the move didn’t quite work out, confirming that the Friulani do have a problem on the front line. After three Serie A games, Udinese have yet to find the back of the net.
Paulo Fonseca, on the other hand, didn’t do any change versus the lineup who put up a good show against Juventus one week ago. The Giallorossi maintained control of the game for most of the first half, where they accumulated a 61% ball possession, but also lacked effectiveness in the final third with Edin Dzeko appearing far from the lethal striker he is known to be.
In the 22nd minute, the Bosnian hit-man infamously missed a gigantic chance as he failed to convert a fine pass by Roger Ibanez. Dzeko went one-on-one with Juan Musso but failed to hit the target despite shooting from a very favorable position.
Udinese, on the other hand, created their chances mostly with Kevin Kasagna, who first tested Roma goalkeeper Antonio Mirante with a long-range effort and then missed by a few inches to convert a Thomas Ouwejan cross. Lasagna’s most dangerous attempt, however, came in the 43rd minute when he managed to pierce through Roma’s defense with a powerful dash but ended up crashing into Mirante.
Roberto Pereyra then tried to slot the ball home with a lob effort from the right but Gianluca Mancini managed to clear it right on the goal line. At half time, it was still nil-nil with Udinese progressively gaining confidence.
Roma put their heads ahead in the 54th minute, when a defective pass from Rodrigo Becao propelled Pedro’s fine finish from outside of the box. The ball hit the left post and bounced past the goal line to award the former Barcelona and Chelsea star his first goal in his Serie A adventure.
Udinese’s reaction in the 67th minute saw once again Lasagna in action, but the number 25’s shot, albeit powerful, was central and posed no serious threat to Antonio Mirante – who was also able to neutralize Fernando Forestieri’s tap-in attempt.
One minute later, Stefano Okaka made himself dangerous as he cleverly got free from his marker to receive a filtering pass from Nahuel Molina. His conclusion could have been better.
Gotti’s desperate assault – with the coach adding a third striker when Ilija Nestorovski substituted Roberto Pereyra – didn’t bear any fruit and so at full time the Friulani had to concede their loss in a row despite recording some encouraging progress from a tactical point of view.
Next week’s international break will help them re-organize, look more thoroughly at their offensive options, and hopefully recover a few more elements from their injury list.
MATCH REPORT
October 3, 2020 – Serie A 2020-2021 Round 3
UDINESE-ROMA 0-1
SCORERS: 54′ Pedro
 |
UDINESE (3-5-2): Musso; Becao (87′ Coulibaly), De Maio, Samir; Ter Avest (62′ Molina), De Paul, Arslan (63′ Forestieri), Pereyra (86′ Nestorovski), Ouwejan; Lasagna, Okaka (Nicolas, Gasparini, Prodl, Zeegelaar, Ballarini, Battistella, Micin, Palumbo) Coach: Gotti |
 |
ROMA (3-4-2-1): Mirante; Mancini, Ibanez, Kumbulla; Santon, Pellegrini (83′ Cristante), Veretout, Spinazzola; Pedro (83′ Kluivert), Mkhitaryan (71′ Carles Perez); Dzeko (94′ Villar) (Pau Lopez, Olsen, Bruno Peres, Calafiori, Diawara, Antonucci) Coach: Fonseca |
REFEREE: Mr. Abisso from Palermo
NOTES: Yellow Cards: Samir (U); Extra Time: 1st Half 0′, 2nd Half 4′