A month has passed between Atalanta and Spezia. A month of chances thrown to the wind, as if to obey the law of retaliation, given that Udinese in September and up to the first match in October had made great use of the final minutes of the matches against Sassuolo (at 91 ‘Samardzic, then Beto at 93 ‘), Inter (Bijol on 84’, final goal by Arslan on 93 ‘) and Verona (Bijol again on 93’).
In short, he had squeezed 9 points on the wool thread, just as he lost at least as many crossbars and occasions – even sensational ones – that failed in the Cesarini area, or almost.
As mentioned, you can start right from the intersection with Atalanta, a high-ranking challenge that ended at 2-2, a pyrotechnic draw fueled by the vitality of Udinese in the context of a final match that was defined by all as «spectacular “, “English”.
With the Dea ahead by two goals, Andrea Sottil’s team first managed to close the gap with a free-kick from Deulofeu, then grabbed their opponents less than a quarter of an hour from the 90th minute, thanks to a volley from Nehuen Perez.
And in the final there is the golden ball, after a quick exchange with Samardzic who frees Arslan in the area launched towards the Atalantine goal: diagonal on the bottom.
The chances of the last minutes are the heaviest ones in terms of regrets, because they would have really affected the result.
It also happened at the Olimpico in the subsequent direct clash in the Europe area, when Deulofeu hits a crossbar, a crossbar that Udinese had also kissed in the other half of the field, in the first half with Samardzic.
Two heavy “woods” if you think that ended 1-1. After the break, some regrets also against Torino, in the lost game which, as Sottil himself confessed, “burns a bit”.
In those 90 minutes (and beyond) Deulofeu has eaten the possible 2-1 at the stroke of the hour of play, but even Beto can regret a conclusion deflected in diving by the opposing goalkeeper Milinkovic in full recovery.
In the recovery even the most evident waste, that of Cremona, at the end of a match played by Udinese that could have been worth the entire stake if Deulofeu had not sent the 1-0 ball to the stands in the counterattack before the triple final.
Less sensational the action of the final assault on Lecce with Pereyra in front of the goalkeeper, all in all casual, however, almost impromptu, the crossbar hit by Walace in the recovery of La Spezia, where the game could have “turned” well before, since after twenty minutes a goal in Success was canceled, that of the possible advantage, for an offside of a few centimeters.
Here are the regrets of a month, even if football is not made with assumptions. The facts matter. The 24 points in classical. Sottil also said this when asked about it. And if there is one detail that La Spezia liked, it was the realism of the technician.