Injuries Impact Udinese's Defeat to Lazio
Kosta Runjaic left Stadio Friuli convinced Udinese’s defeat to Lazio turned the moment his medical staff twice sprinted onto the pitch.
His side had led, they had the game where they wanted it, and then the injuries came.
Injuries turn the tide
Udinese struck first early in the second half, Jesper Karlstrom finishing to ignite the home crowd and briefly tilt the match in their favour. Lazio, loaded with new signings and expectation under Gennaro Gattuso, suddenly looked rattled.
But the real damage to Udinese had already been done.
Jakub Piotrowski and Oumar Solet both went off injured before the break, forcing Runjaic into two early changes and burning through substitution windows he had planned to use to manage the closing stages.
“We lost Piotrowski and Solet and we paid a heavy price for those two changes, as we lost two substitution slots, so I had doubts,” Runjaic told DAZN, via TuttoMercatoWeb.
From there, Lazio’s quality began to surface. The pressure finally told.
Davide Frattesi dragged the visitors level, and Albert Gudmundsson completed the turnaround, sealing a 2-1 win that reflected Lazio’s growing control as Udinese’s legs and options faded.
“Lazio played well, they are a strong team and they have bought strong players. They started as favourites,” Runjaic said. “We could have taken a point, but they certainly deserved to score at least one goal.”
On the touchline, the Udinese coach could only watch as Frattesi battled with Enzo Ebosse and the visitors increasingly dictated the tempo in Udine.
Davis withdrawn as Udinese run out of answers
The disruption of those first-half injuries shaped every decision Runjaic made after the interval. Even the choice to remove Keinan Davis, his main reference point in attack, came with the earlier forced substitutions in mind.
“Both teams were tired, but we have to respect their qualities and we weren’t able to have the possession we wanted,” he said. “I didn’t want to risk Davis and the changes in the first half affected us.”
Without Davis, Udinese lacked a natural focal point to relieve the pressure. Runjaic did not hide from that reality, acknowledging his squad still lacks a like-for-like alternative.
He pointed to James Abankwah, a summer arrival, as one player who will need time before he can truly influence matches at this level.
“Abankwah still has to adapt to the pace of Serie A and, in terms of the changes, Lazio were superior.”
On a night when Gattuso could turn to proven options and tilt the game from the bench, Runjaic was left counting injuries, substitutions and, ultimately, dropped points. The question now is how long those setbacks will echo through Udinese’s season.
