Serie A | Bologna 1-1 Udinese: Saelemaekers lob saves 10 men

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·28 April 2024

Serie A | Bologna 1-1 Udinese: Saelemaekers lob saves 10 men

An audacious lobbed Alexis Saelemaekers free kick allowed 10-man Bologna to grab a point against Udinese, a result that does little to suit either team.

The Rossoblu had the opportunity to catch Juve in third place with a victory, but were missing Adama Soumaoro and long-term absentee Lewis Ferguson. The Friulani lost their mini match with Roma on Thursday, the debut for new coach Fabio Cannavaro, and risked being sucked back into the bottom three. Sandi Lovric, Florian Thauvin, Enzo Ebosse and Gerard Deulofeu didn’t make the trip.

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Joshua Zirkzee saw his strike from the edge of the area deflected wide and Lukasz Skorupski got away with a mistimed punch on the Victor Kristiansen header.

It was Udinese who took the shock lead in first half stoppages when Bologna were caught playing out from the back with Remo Freuler bullied off the ball, Lorenzo Lucca’s shot was deflected into the path of a Martin Payero tap-in.

The Friulani almost got a second, the Lazar Samardzic free kick flashing across the six-yard box and Lucca unable to get the final touch at the back post.

Bologna threw on Riccardo Orsolini and took a more aggressive approach, but the first shots on target were weak Michel Aebischer and Dan Ndoye scuffed finishes into the arms of Maduka Okoye.

It got even worse for the hosts, as Sam Beukema wiped out Lazar Samardzic on the counter-attack for his second yellow card, reducing Bologna to 10 men.

Samardzic stung Skorupski’s gloves from distance and Ndoye failed to make the most of an inspired build-up from Zirkzee, but the 10 men did get back on level terms with a moment of magic.

Saelemaekers spotted Okoye off his line and floated a free kick beyond everyone into the far top corner, as the goalkeeper flailed backwards.

10-men Bologna have just 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 against Udinese with an absolute fluke 😳 Alexis Saelemaekers will take it 👊 📺 Watch the #SerieA live on TNT Sports 4 pic.twitter.com/yjXLLm40e1 — Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) April 28, 2024

The Belgian threatened to turn it around completely, as first he saw Okoye smother the low finish, then fired over from the edge of the box.

Bologna were trying to win it in stoppages, leaving gaps at the back that Udinese almost made the most of, as Keinan Davis saw his curler smash against the far post, then Skorupski got his gloves to another strike.