Lazio came away with a 2:1 victory over Udinese at the Bluenergy Stadium on Sunday evening. The result came in Serie A's third round of matches, played on September seventh. By then the hosts had already shown they could hold their own, having taken points from both Venezia and Como in the opening weeks.
The opening exchanges were cagey, with Udinese's Jakub Piotrowski picking up a booking in the thirteenth minute before being substituted fifteen minutes later. Lennon Miller and Gustav Isaksen each collected yellow cards in quick succession, and the tempo never quite settled into a rhythm either side liked.
And here's the thing about the first half: Udinese created more than they let on. Jesper Karlstrom's forty-ninth-minute strike came from sustained pressure, and the home side had already registered six shots on target before the break. They were not out of this, even if the numbers would suggest otherwise.
Lazio responded when Davide Frattesi found the net in the seventy-fifth minute, but the hosts refused to go away. Albert Gudmundsson made sure of the points with an eighty-eighth-minute goal of his own, and the away side had worked the channels well enough to punish Udinese when it mattered.
To be fair, the statistics tell a clearer story than the scoreline. Lazio finished with sixty per cent possession and an expected goals figure of 1.84 against Udinese's 0.76. The home side managed more shots on target, six to seven, but the chances went begging on both sides.
The result leaves Lazio seventh with six points from two wins, while Udinese sit tenth on four. The home side's recent run includes a win against Barcelona, but this was a different test entirely, and the away side proved they can spring a surprise when the pressure mounts.
