Lazio and Udinese achieved different results in Europa League although the two had to make a comeback before achieving their results which can be considered pretty positive for an early group stage start of the competition. Lazio, who played with most of their second string players were held by Romanian side Vaslui, while Udinese gets off to a better start than their Italian compatriots after securing a victory over French side Rennes.
10 Men Lazio Scrapes A Home Draw
Playing in front their home crowd at Olympico, Edy Reja’s decision in resting most of their main players for the Europa League almost proved costly for Lazio as the capital side needed a Giuseppe Sculli goal to avoid defeat from Vaslui. The Biancocelesti actually started the match in a positive manner as they took the lead in the 34th minute through Djibril Cisse’s spot kick, which was earned by Reja’s team after Tomasso Rocchi got hauled by the Romanian outfit’s defender, Balaur.
Unfortunately the first half lead can’t be kept in the second period as in the 59th minute, Wesley, equalize for Vaslui as the attacking midfielder successfully headed in Adailton’s free kick and beat Lazio’s keeper Frederico Marchetti. The home team’s misery looked to really start few minutes after the equalizer as the Biancocelesti conceded a penalty and got their defender, Luciano Zauri, sent off after the veteran, who was a last man, brought down Temwanjera inside the penalty area.
Wesley successfully converted the penalty kick and gave a 2-1 lead for the away team and playing against a 10-men Lazio, things seemed to go in the favor of the Romanian as they looked to steal all three point from the Italian tem. Fortunately for the Biancocelesti, Sculli managed to equalize for the capital team after the ex-Genoa man headed Cisse’s cross in the 73th minute, which turned out to be the last goal in the match, a pretty decent outcome for the capital side considering the condition they’re facing.
Udinese Grabbed All Three Points At Friuli
Meanwhile, at Friuli stadium, Udinese become the only Italian team that managed a victory in Europe this midweek as Francesco Guidolin’s team came back from a goal down to sent home their French opponent, Rennes, without any joy. Despite playing at home, the Italian side didn’t really start the match convincingly as they were a goal down after 18 minutes after the visitor’s striker, Hajdi, latched on to Stephane Dalmat’s pass before beating Samir Handanovic in Udinese’s goal.
Fortunately for Udinese, they still have their veteran talisman Antonio Di Natale as the Serie A top scorer proved his sharpness again after scoring a fine placed shot into Rennes’ goal just few minutes before the half time whistle blown. The equalizing goal simply made the home team looked more comfortable in controlling the game but it took them quite a while for scoring the winning goal as the Bianconeri needed to wait until the 82th minute before finally taking the lead through Pablo Armero.
Match Reports:
Lazio v Vaslui 2-2
Goals: Cisse pen 34 (Lazio), Sculli 71 (Lazio); Wesley 59, pen 63 (Vaslui)
Lazio: Marchetti; Zauri, Diakitè, Dias, Lulic; Ledesma, Matuzalem; Gonzalez (Konko 80), Sculli (Hernanes 80), Cissè; Rocchi (Kozak 67)
Vaslui: Cerniauskas; Milanov, Farkas, Balaur, Milisavljevic; Pavlovic, Zmeu (Costin 87); Adailton (Buhaescu 92), Wesley, Sanmartean; Temwanjera (Bello 77)
Udinese v Rennes 2-1
Goals: Di Natale 39 (Udinese), Armero 82 (Udinese); Hadji 18 (Rennes)
Udinese: Handanovic; Neuton (Domizzi 46), Danilo, Benatia; Isla, Badu, Abdi, Doubai, Armero; Fabbrini (Asamoah 70); Di Natale (Barreto 69)
Rennes: Costil; Danze’, Mangane (Kana-Biyik 15), Boye, Mavinga; Tettey, M’Vila; Kembo-Ekoko (Montano 71), Dalmat, Pitroipa (Boukari 59); Hadji
