Parma blow two-goal lead in Udinese draw

Date: 21st February 2021 at 2:26pm
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Parma squandered a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 against Udinese at the Stadio Ennio Tardini in the Sunday lunchtime game in Serie A.

Andreas Cornelius opened the scoring for the Ducali and Juraj Kucka doubled the lead with a penalty before Stefano Okaka pulled a goal back for the Zebrette and Bram Nuytinck equalised.

Parma attacked down the left flank in the early minutes and that paid off in the third minute when Giuseppe Pezzella crossed and Cornelius headed the ball downwards to score.

The Crociati nearly doubled the lead soon after but Yann Karamoh’s low and powerful cross from the right flashed across the goal and nobody was able to divert the ball into the net.

Juan Musso was called into action in the 14th minute when another cross from the left-wing found the head of Cornelius and the Udinese goalkeeper tipped the ball over the bar. The Zebrette tried to build up some attacks but struggled to test Luigi Sepe in the Ducali goal.

A penalty was awarded to Parma after Valentin Mihaila was tripped by Rodrigo Becao. Kucka made it 2-0 in the 32nd minute with a powerful penalty to the bottom left corner despite Musso guessing the right way.

Kucka looked to make it 3-0 early in the second half but his powerful shot narrowly missed the target. Mihaila, Conti, and others passed up more chances.

Udinese pulled a goal back after 64 minutes when Rodrigo De Paul provided a diagonal ball and Okaka, who had only been on for a few minutes, headed the ball past Sepe. The Friulani started to have more possession in the first half but the goal galvanised the team and they increased the tempo.

Mihaila got into a position to make it 3-1 but his acrobatic effort failed to hit the target.

The Zebrette had thought they had equalised when Thomas Ouwejan’s header found the back of the net but the ball was out when De Paul crossed it.

Despite the warning signs being there for Parma, Udinese levelled the score in the 80th minute when a freekick from the left was headed in from Nuytinck. The Friulani wanted a penalty later on after Conti seemed to have tripped Ouwejan but nothing was given.

Parma came close to a winner but defender Riccardo Gagliolo’s close-range effort flashed wide and Wylan Cyprien just missed the goal with a powerful freekick.

 

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