Serie A

In partnership with

Football Italia

·14 April 2024

Serie A | Udinese vs. Roma called off after Ndicka collapse

Roma’s match against Udinese was suspended after Evan Ndicka collapsed with chest pains, with the result at 1-1, but he is alert and conscious.

The Giallorossi were fired up after back-to-back wins in the Derby della Capitale and the Europa League quarter-final away to Milan. With the second leg coming up on Thursday, there was some squad rotation, but Juventus and Bologna draws gave them the opportunity to close on the top four. Sardar Azmoun was the only remaining injury absentee and they moved to a three-man defence, but Udinese missed Sandi Lovric, Florian Thauvin, Keinan Davis, Enzo Ebosse and Gerard Deulofeu. Lorenzo Lucca returned from suspension.

OneFootball Videos

In the opening minutes, Lucca ran on to a Roberto Pereyra through ball and was prevented from finishing it off by close Diego Llorente marking, then the tall centre-forward got his header wrong from a Lazar Samardzic ball over the top.

So did Jaka Bijol, turning a free header wide from six yards on a corner, while Maduka Okoye had to get down quickly to palm a Tommaso Baldanzi volley off the line from a set play.

Udinese had won back the ball repeatedly in the final third and made it count when Dean Huijsen wanted far too long to get the ball under control, so Pereyra stole it and ran forward to dink the finish over an on-rushing Mile Svilar into the empty net.

Not for the first time in his tenure, Daniele De Rossi abandoned the 3-5-2 formation after just 30 minutes, returning to a 4-3-3.

Romelu Lukaku nodded an Angelino cross onto the side-netting, while Leandro Paredes stung Okoye’s gloves from distance and Lucca tested Svilar after the ball was given away again.

Nehuen Perez read the Paredes free kick well and prevented substitute Paulo Dybala getting the volley away inside the area. The pressure was growing and Roma equalised when Bryan Cristante’s cross from the right found Lukaku for a towering header, anticipating two defenders. It was the Belgian’s first goal since March 2.

Dybala’s back-heel flick found Baldanzi for a cross deflected onto the head of Lukaku, charged down from six yards.

Roma were pushing to turn it around, but at the 72nd minute there was panic when Ndicka suddenly collapsed. The medics rushed over with a defibrillator, though it was not used.

The defender was stretchered off and was visibly conscious and alert, making a thumbs up gesture to the crowd. However, his teammates and coach Daniele De Rossi were too worried to resume the match, so the referee called a halt to proceedings.

As per the Serie A rules, the game will be resumed from the scoreline and minute where it stopped, with the players who were on the pitch.