Two goals for a victory that had been missing since last October 3 in Verona, combined with the recoveries of Rodrigo Becao and Jean Victor Makengo, the return to the personal goal of Beto and the confirmations of Walace and Isaac Success. This is the color snapshot to post alongside the 2-0 with which Udinese beat Lecce yesterday in the friendly match played behind closed doors at the Friuli stadium.
The negative however, the black and white box that will have to be developed in the “darkroom” by Sottil, concerns the slow and cumbersome approach taken by Udinese who risked falling behind twice in the first ten minutes.
Had it not been for Silvestri’s dive in the 10th minute on Di Francesco’s narrow diagonal and for the undersized error of the promising 2002 born Joan Gonzalez, a lap of the clock later, the “championship match” for the bianconeri would have uphill.
Rust or arrogance? Perhaps neither of them, but since it was the same with Athletic Bilbao, perhaps it will be appropriate to work on the approach in view of the resumption of the championship, where Udinese have too often conceded the first goal before coming back.
Another work from behind the scenes will instead concern the recoveries of Destiny Udogie, who remained on the bench yesterday, and Gerard Deuolfeu, still training separately. The two have not yet found playing time in the tests and must be seen to be weighed, while that “Tucu” Pereyra who remained away from the group because he was slightly influenced does not worry.
Who knows, maybe all three will meet again on Thursday in Cremona, at 1 pm, in the last test before the championship that will take Empoli to Friuli on 4 January, where Samardzic will presumably also find some minutes, left on the bench due to the aftermath of an illness of the season, and Arslan, absent yesterday after becoming a father for the third time in the past few hours.
Returning to the colors, Christmas will undoubtedly be sweeter for Norberto Beto. That header which was followed by the winning diagonal of the 1-0, which struck in the 23rd minute, put two of his previous errors in second order and made the Portuguese rejoice in a way that hadn’t happened since 4 November, when one of his paws in the box small allowed Zebretta to take Lecce back on a 1-1 draw which then made the standings for both.
Smiles also for Becao and Makengo who found the field they had been missing since October, for Success who was precious even in a friendly and for Nehuen Perez who scored with his header, the one instead denied to Jaka Bijol from the crossbar. All this, while the two full-backs Kingsley Ehizibue and Festy Ebosele struggled a lot on the wings.