Chapter 64: Securing Victory

Chapter 64: Securing Victory

"2:1! Beautiful! Di Natale scores!" the Italian commentator exclaimed loudly, "With this attack, Udinese has once again shown us their speed on the counter. Actually, Liberec's defense was quite quick this time, but the coordination among Udinese players was superb. The ball was passed quickly, snap, snap, snap, with incredible pace, leaving Liberec exhausted from trying to defend!"

"We see Di Natale immediately hugging Bruno. Indeed, Di Natale's goal was largely due to Bruno. He drew Liberec's defensive attention at the near post, and his clever dummy provided Di Natale with the space to shoot."

"It seems that Bruno Fernandes is integrating very smoothly into Udinese. He's syncing well with his teammates and is clearly well-liked, which is fantastic news for Udinese fans!"

"Udinese has now taken full control again, leading Liberec once more! This is surely not something Liberec anticipated before the match. They've been completely led by the nose from the start by Udinese, whose performance in the match has been eye-opening. They're playing nothing like the easy opponents they were in European competitions in previous seasons; they've completely dominated Liberec!"

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Having just equalized and then conceding again was a bit of a blow for the Liberec players. Meanwhile, Udinese grew even more confident, especially under the leadership of their new offensive talisman, Bruno Fernandes. They dominated the play on the field.

During an attack by Udinese, Pavelka commits a foul against Di Natale in their own half and receives a yellow card, setting Udinese up with a promising free-kick opportunity.

Normally, Di Natale would take Udinese's free kicks, but this time, Bruno Fernandes stepped up to the ball.

Clearly, the choice for free-kick taker at Udinese had changed for the new season.

As the referee blew the whistle, Bruno ran up and shot. The ball flew over the wall, tracing a beautiful arc, slipping through Liberec goalkeeper Kovař's fingers, and nestled into the top right corner of the net.

"gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool!!!!!!!" the Italian commentator shouted, dragging out the call, "What a world-class strike! A stunning direct free-kick goal! 3:1! Udinese has surely secured the win now!"

"Bruno! The Portuguese scores a brace! Liberec is completely bewildered! They've been rendered powerless by Udinese!"

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Bruno, having scored twice, ran to the sidelines to celebrate the goal, and the stands at Udinese erupted with huge cheers and shouts, expressing their love for the team's new key player.

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By the end of the first half, the score was Udinese 3, Liberec 1. This was a scoreline nobody expected before the match. Although Liberec, hailing from the Czech First League, was relatively obscure, and Udinese was known for their poor European performances. Despite good performances in domestic leagues in the past two seasons, they were called "the whipping boys of European competitions."

With Udinese, fifth in Serie A, facing the third-placed team from the Czech league, Udinese might have had a slight advantage, but defeating the opponent was expected to be a struggle.

Therefore, seeing Udinese lead 3:1 at halftime, dominating the game, was quite a surprise to many.

As the second half began, Udinese continued to exploit the home advantage, pressing against Liberec's defense. During the halftime break, Guidolin analyzed the situation, hoping his team could establish a substantial advantage in the first leg of the match, ideally settling the matter then and there.

Guidolin didn't mention one detail explicitly: Udinese's core lineup was aging. Especially the captain and leading striker, Di Natale, was nearly 36. At such an age, he couldn't endure long periods of playing twice a week.

Therefore, it was inevitable for Di Natale to rest in some matches, but with the next game being the league opener, Guidolin didn't plan to rest him then. Thus, in the next week's Europa League playoff second leg against Liberec, Di Natale was scheduled to rest.

On Udinese's front line, apart from Di Natale, there was a lack of a reliable scorer in Guidolin's eyes. Muriel, although he scored 11 league goals last season, was still considered too raw and lacking consistency by Guidolin.

Vidmon and Zelinski, even younger, were brought up from the second team to cope with this season's multiple fronts, having never played in the first team before.

As for the newly joined Lopez, Guidolin had little hope for him.

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Wave after wave of attacks from Udinese put tremendous pressure on Liberec's defense.

In the 53rd minute of the match, João Cancelo exploited his speed to dominate his opponent on the right flank, then made a cross from the byline. Di Natale was quick to shoot at the goal front, and although goalkeeper Kovař deflected it, the ball was about to fly into the net. It's unclear what Liberec defender Kusnierek was thinking—perhaps he panicked as the ball approached the goal line—but he inexplicably handled the ball.

Toot! The referee's whistle blew, pointing to the penalty spot without any dispute, and showed Kusnierek a red card.

"Penalty! Red card!" the Italian commentator shouted, "The referee has sent off Liberec's defender Kusnierek and awarded a penalty! There's no dispute about the handball in the box. What was Kusnierek thinking? At 1:3, conceding another goal wouldn't have been unacceptable; there was absolutely no need to block it with his hand."

The commentator found it hard to understand; such a defensive choice at 1:3 could be seen as somewhat foolish.

Udinese captain Di Natale stood at the penalty spot to take the kick.

He ran up, shot, and scored effortlessly!

The Friuli Stadium erupted in cheers.

Di Natale converted the penalty, scoring his second goal of the game, showing that the 36-year-old veteran still had plenty of fight left in him.

Di Natale was swamped by jubilant teammates, congratulating him on his excellent performance.

The stands at Friuli Stadium also erupted in loud cheers and applause.

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"One goal from open play, one from a penalty, Di Natale has shown everyone his strength and versatility," the Italian commentator noted, "4:1, Udinese leads by a large margin, and with Liberec down a defender, the home team can practically celebrate victory early."

With the center-back sent off, the Liberec coach had to make substitutions; he took off forward Fredrik and brought on center-back Luboš Hůska.

Seeing this substitution by Liberec, Guidolin also made a change, replacing starting striker Di Natale with Muriel.

Although Di Natale was still sharp, at nearly 36, Guidolin counted on him for more matches. With the game's outcome virtually decided, it was best to save his energy for future challenges.

Applause filled the Friuli Stadium, a tribute to the club's legendary captain. (End of Chapter)

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