Udinese and Spezia share spoils in back-and-forth thriller
Winless across their previous seven Serie A encounters at the Dacia Arena, Udinese should have been ahead with less than 60 seconds on the clock, but Roberto Pereyra could only fire wide after Bartłomiej Dragowski had failed to deal with Sandi Lovric’s delivery into the heavily-congested six-yard area.
Hoping to get off to a winning start in his first match in charge of Spezia, Leonardo Semplici would have been delighted as his newly-inherited side netted the game’s opening goal in the sixth minute.
Taking full advantage of Pereyra’s miss, M'Bala Nzola confidently skipped past the oncoming Marco Silvestri before slotting home.
With the advantage of the opening goal on the scoresheet, Spezia should have doubled their lead six minutes later. However, Mehdi Bourabia ended up on the losing end of his one-on-one battle with Silvestri as the midfielder misjudged the height of his lofted effort.
Nonetheless, the majority inside the Dacia Arena were allowed to celebrate in the 22nd minute when VAR intervened to advise referee Matteo Marchetti that Beto was actually the equivalent of a millimetre onside before beating Dragowski for his first goal in six matches.
Pursuing only a third away league victory in the current Serie A campaign, Spezia were inches away from restoring their lead, only for Rodrigo Becao to produce an instinctive last-ditch interception to prevent Nzola from finding the back of the net for a second time in the evening.
However, in the topsy-turvy world of football, Udinese completed their comeback in the 55th minute when Pereyra made up for his earlier miss with a fearsome strike that flew past Dragowski.
With the game entering the final 20 minutes, Sottil’s decision to withdraw Bianconeri captain Pereyra six minutes earlier backfired, as Nzola fired in his 11th league of the season to set up an intriguing conclusion at the Darcia Arena.
Despite frustratedly being denied by Dragowski in the final moments, Udinese still face the threat of being dragged into an end-of-season relegation battle.
Meanwhile, Spezia remain only three points above the bottom three as Semplici’s side prepare for a must-win relegation six-pointer against Hellas Verona in a week's time.
Flashscore Man of the Match: M'Bala Nzola (Spezia)