Udinese coach Luca Gotti admits the 4-4 draw with Lazio was ‘like a giant rollercoaster’ and nobody emerged happy from this game against his former boss Maurizio Sarri.
It was an extraordinary encounter at the Stadio Olimpico, as Udinese were 2-0 up, then leading 3-1 at half-time, were trailing 4-3 and equalised for 4-4 at the 99th minute.
“This game was like a giant rollercoaster. When you are 3-1 up and paradoxically can be more dangerous in that situation because you can go on the counter, it’s really disappointing that it all turned around.
“Pedro threaded his finish through the legs of defenders, Milinkovic-Savic came out with a stunner, then the red cards and everything else.
“We saw a game that ended 4-4 and the goalkeepers made one save apiece. It was a total anomaly of a match. I didn’t get the sensation during the game that Lazio were getting back into it. We were a little deeper, but that was also a plan to create more spaces for us to go on the counter.”
Gotti was Sarri’s assistant manager at Chelsea, but his change of tactics to 4-4-2 with Isaac Success and Beto upfront caused huge problems for Lazio. The coach was questioned on his substitutions during the second half.
“I knew that Lazio have this very high press, so I wanted to have two strikers who could attack the space and go on the counter. I considered Fernando Forestieri in the starting XI too, but like Isaac Success, he doesn’t have 90 minutes in his legs.”
“Gerard Deulofeu was sharp, but I wanted Brandon Soppy to provide more changes of pace. It was 3-3, there was 10 minutes to go and I wanted to go for the win. Success doesn’t have a full match in his legs, we have to be wary with him, as his physique is extremely delicate, so I took him off because of that and not a tactical choice.”
Beto bagged a brace to give Udinese the 2-0 lead within 32 minutes at the Stadio Olimpico, confirming himself an excellent investment for the Friulani.
“We can all see he has margins of improvement, really big ones, but works constantly, causes any defender problems with pace and physical strength, plus he knows where the goal is.”
Deep into stoppage time, 4-3 down against Lazio and up steps Tolgay Arslan for Udinese! 💥
Celebrations and protests ensue, the benches empty and a red card is shown towards Walace! 🍿 pic.twitter.com/oMPP1lORiQ
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) December 2, 2021