90′ + 3′ NAPOLI ARE SERIE A CHAMPIONS!
After a gap of three decades, Naples has won the Scudetto, and the crowd at the Dacia Arena is ecstatic.
90′ After taking a short corner, Zielinski passes the ball to Elmas, and Napoli opts to simply maintain possession rather than taking the risk of delivering the ball into the box. They don’t want anything to ruin their day today after what happened on Sunday in Salernitana, so they’re being extra cautious.
88′ There are only a few minutes left before Napoli ends 33 years of hurt and sparks wild celebrations in Naples, and Udinese no longer appears intent on spoiling the Scudetto party, appearing content with a point.
86′ Substitution.Kvaratskhelia, obviously exhausted, limps to the sidelines and Lozano comes on in his place.
82′ Substitution., Samardzic is also taken off the field, and January acquisition Thauvin is given a late substitution opportunity.
82′ Substitution. In the 82nd minute, Ehizibue is injured and is replaced by Ebosele, who is helped off the field by two members of the Udinese medical staff.
80′ Shortly after Udogie was forced to leave the field, the other wing-back for Udinese, Ehizibue, landed awkwardly and fell to the ground in some discomfort. During this time, the game will be put on hold so that he can receive medical attention.
78′ Substitution. Sottil now makes a midfield substitution, replacing Lovric, who scored the game’s first goal, with Arslan.Sottil now makes a midfield substitution, replacing Lovric, who scored the game’s first goal, with Arslan.
74′ Substitution. Udogie limps off injured, putting an early end to a promising performance, and Zeegelaar will immediately take his place on the left flank.
71′ SAVE! After a lovely lofted pass from Elmas disperses the dense Udinese defense, Silvestri dives sharply to his right to stop a first-time volley by Zielinski from the edge of the area.
66′ After Kvaratskhelia demonstrates some of the trickery that was characteristic of his play up until the previous month, the ball is cleared from immediate danger thanks to a last-ditch header by Perez. The Georgian’s pass from the left wing is cleared, and Elmas is given a foul for a high boot inside the Udinese area after the play.
64′ Substitution. Spalletti makes a substitution in the middle of the pitch, moving Ndombele over to make room for Zielinski.
60′ Becao takes a superb volley from outside the box, but Meret easily parries it away because it does not have enough accuracy to test the Napoli player.
58′ Udogie runs down the left flank and cuts back towards Nestorovski, but Kim stretches to get back and knock the ball away.
56′ Osimhen’s big play has given Napoli a new lease on life, and they are now started playing at the breakneck speed that has become their trademark, while Udinese are falling further behind.
52′ GOOAAAL! Victor Osimhen, who plays for Napoli, scores an equaliser after finding a rebound off of the goalkeeper’s hands.
Kvaratskhelia takes a low and powerful shot from the border of the penalty area, and when Silvestri makes the save, the ball bounces directly into the path of Osimhen. He then hammers home his 22nd goal in the league this season, making the score 1-1 in Udine.
48′ On the left side of the field, Udogie and Nestorovski collaborate twice before passing the ball to Walace 20 yards away. The midfielder, despite having a good look at goal, dragged his low shot wide of the left post.
46′ The hosts take the pitch, and we are finally off and running the second half.
44′ A period of pressure applied by Udinese is ultimately fruitless as Walace sends a cross that is deflected behind the line of goal. However, the team at home continues to be a danger, even more so than the team that is currently leading the league they are playing against.
38′ Kvaratskhelia takes the free kick from the left touchline and sends it in with a high trajectory towards the penalty spot. However, the ball takes a significant deflection and Silvestri is able to easily collect the falling ball.
32′ CLOSE! Osimhen once more managed to send a header at goal while leaping high inside a crowded area of the Udinese penalty box, but this time it goes just outside the right-hand post! This is the closest that Napoli has been able to get to the goal so far.
31′ SAVE! After a mistake by the Napoli defence, Meret makes a spectacular save by diving to his left to palm away a really well shot from Lovric. That could have been an improbable brace for the Slovenian, who is currently involved in the scoring goals in each of his previous three home games in Serie A.
28′ Di Lorenzo’s aimless pass into the box results in a loss of possession for Napoli, who continue to struggle. The recent fatigue that the visitors have been displaying appears to be mental as well as physical; very few members of the visitor’s squad have been able to match the collective peak that they reached earlier in the season.
26′ Ndombele gets hit and falls to the ground, giving the impression that he is out of breath. The action resumes after a brief break in the action, and the midfielder is back up on his feet as the game continues.
22′ NO PENALTY! Even though there was some contact made with Kvaratskhelia’s knee, the Video Assistant Referee has determined that there was not enough of it to impede him. Napoli will not be subject to any sort of punishment!
21′ After a collision of knees in the penalty area involving Becao and Kvaratskhelia, the latter is sent tumbling to the ground, and Napoli immediately calls for a penalty. The referee does not appear to be overly concerned, but the video assistant referee has started a review!
13′ GOAL!!!! UDINESE TOOK THE LEAD
The home team takes the lead when Lovric receives a pass from Udogie on the left side of the field and unleashes an unstoppable shot from 15 yards out that finds its way into the top-right corner! It’s 1-0 thanks to a remarkable goal from the midfielder, who obviously didn’t read the play before scoring!
12′ Walace takes advantage of a mistake made by Napoli by unleashing a predatory strike from the outside of the box, that Rrahmani merely manages to stop by valiantly diving in front of it.
10′ Elmas drives the ball forward from the centre of the pitch and fires a strong low shot from the edge of the area, but it is blocked by one of the many Udinese defenders who are packed inside the penalty area of the hosts.
6′ Another Elmas corner is swung into the box from the right, but Di Lorenzo’s weak header goes straight into Silvestri’s waiting gloves.
2′ After showing early intent, Osimhen races down the left side of the field to win a corner kick. Elmas then sends a cross more toward the near post, but the Nigerian striker fails to beat his defender to the ball and misses out on a scoring opportunity.
Elmas and Ndombele are the two players to replace the ones who started for Napoli on Sunday. The visitors’ lineup now features Elmas and Ndombele. Mario Rui and Matteo Politano are both still sidelined due to injuries sustained during the team’s loss to Milan in the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
Udinese are still without their first-choice attacking players Beto, Isaac Success, and Gerard Deulofeu, and Enzo Ebosse is also unable to play due to injury. Today, neither of these situations has changed. In the absence of the team’s leading scorer Beto, Nestorovski will start in the forward position once more, with Pereyra providing support.
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