On course to register a draw against AC Milan in the last round of matches until Olivier Giroud struck in the 89th minute for the defending champions, Spezia should have been ahead in the 10th minute, only for M'Bala Nzola to fire straight at Marco Silvestri.
On the back of opening the scoring in four of the last five H2H encounters, Udinese struggled to pose any attacking threat in the final third, as Silvestri’s opposite number, Jeroen Zoet, remained an observant spectator in the Spezia goal. However, in the 20th minute, Zoet thought his first participation in the contest would be to pick the ball out of the back of the net, but VAR came to the hosts’ rescue, disallowing Isaac Success’ strike after discovering the Nigerian forward had marginally strayed offside in the build-up.
Spezia were ahead in the 33rd minute with the footballing gods on their side when Arkadiusz Reca fired Ethan Ampadu’s exquisite defence-splitting pass into the top corner. However, Luca Gotti’s preparations to take his side into HT with a slender lead were diminished in the 43rd minute when Sandi Lovric converted Success’ cross from close range to bring the visitors level.
Hoping to overcome the ominous fact that the away side on the day had been victorious in the last five H2Hs, Spezia should have been back ahead in the opening embers of the second half, only for top scorer Nzola to fire well wide of the right-hand post. With Lovric’s strike handing Udinese a significantly better opportunity to record a hat-trick of H2H victories at the Stadio Alberto Picco, Andrea Sottil turned to the exploits of Beto and Mato Jajalo off the bench to potentially reignite his side’s less-than-impressive second half display in front of goal.
With a lack of goalscoring opportunities for either side in the remainder of the second 45 minutes, Udinese frustratingly missed out on the chance to move into the European qualification positions after no win in their last six league matches. Meanwhile, Spezia remain only a victory above the Serie B trapdoor after failing to register a much-needed three points for the first time since mid-September.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Sandi Lovric (Udinese Calcio)
