Mission accomplished, but what an effort! Roma beat Udinese, resurpass Lazio and move to more than 7 against Napoli, waiting for the Monday night against Cesena (21pm). A double blow for Garcia and him, who will thus be able to prepare for the next round derby with more serenity. The two points advantage over Lazio will allow us to play with two results available, a nice injection of confidence for a group that is rather stressed by recent events.
“We'll still take the field to win, derbies are played like this – glossed over Garcia. – We have won a fundamental match but we are only halfway there”. It wasn't a walk, indeed. In fact, Udinese, in spite of a quiet ranking, came to the Olimpico to have their say and they definitely succeeded. It was the Bianconeri who took the lead first, making all the Giallorossi spend a night of fear. Perica's goal (19'), spoiled by a blunder by Manolas, had upset the plans of a Roma who were forced to win and therefore rather contracted.
The 0-1 had the effect of a wake-up call and at the end of the first half, just before Banti sent everyone to the locker room, Nainggolan's equalizer arrived, "forgotten" by the Friulian defense and free to bag Totti's assist . In the second half, after a wrong counter-attack by Udinese (who, moreover, had hit the crossbar with Guilherme from a free-kick), here is the liberating goal: mess by the Hertaux-Widmer couple and Torosidis' winning paw (65').
From then on, Roma dissolved definitively and the result didn't increase only due to bad luck. First Nainggolan's post, then Holebas' crossbar prevented other goals, without however changing the final product. “It was a one-way match, we hit two woodworks and faced a great goalkeeper – commented Garcia. – Unfortunately we also gave away a goal, like other times this season. We need to improve here, you can't always make mistakes like this."
To date, however, what matters is the result and this smiles at Roma. Two days from the end, qualification in the Champions League is almost certain, it remains to be understood whether from the main door (2nd place) or from the service door (3rd with annexed preliminaries). A substantial difference, which would significantly change the strategies in the market. That's why, next week (by the way, today we should finally know the date and time), one of the most important derbies in the history of the capital will be played. Another chapter of an eternal rivalry, to be experienced in one go.
