Chapter 74: Leveling the Score

Chapter 74: Leveling the Score

As the second half commenced, Udinese, following Guidolin's plan, intensified their attacks. Catania, meanwhile, fortified their half of the field, fending off Udinese's aggressive plays. Despite Udinese's forceful offense, which seemed to threaten Catania's goal continuously, the score remained 1-0 in favor of the home team as 65 minutes passed.

After twenty minutes into the second half, Udinese players began showing signs of fatigue. Bruno, noticing his teammates tiring, reluctantly slowed down the assault, giving them a moment to catch their breath. Seizing the opportunity, Catania started to counterattack, hoping to extend their lead.

Following several passes, Almirón sent a through ball to Lucas Castro near the top of the penalty arc. Just as Castro was about to turn with the ball, a shadow rushed toward him—it was Kanté. The Udinese midfielder aggressively tackled, poking the ball away and also knocking down Castro in the process.

"Foul!" Guarente immediately signaled for a foul against Kanté. Some Catania players looked toward the referee, others already positioned themselves to take the free kick, expecting a call based on the referee DeMarco's first-half decisions which were mostly against Udinese.

However, to the surprise of Catania's players, the referee did not blow his whistle and instead turned and ran forward. The stands erupted in boos; Catania's fans were furious, believing the referee blatantly ignored a clear foul as Castro had been floored.

These fans seemed to have forgotten their applause in the first half when the referee's bias was in favor of Catania.

At this moment, Udinese was rapidly countering. Guidolin had emphasized the importance of speed in their counterattacks during the half-time break, and it was evident in their play. The ball poked away by Kanté fell to Gabriel Silva who didn't delay, quickly passing it to Pinci.

Pinci, after assessing the field, launched a long pass that cut through the midfield, landing perfectly on Catania's left flank where Bruno was sprinting. He deftly controlled the ball with his chest and began advancing.

At this point, Catania's left-back, Capuano, who had pushed up to assist in the attack, hadn't managed to retreat in time, leaving a vast space open for Bruno to exploit.

Bruno, speeding down the right, had only the desperately chasing Capuano behind him and the hastily intercepting Norbert Gyömbér ahead. Meanwhile, Muriel and Mahrez's forward runs had thrown Catania's defensive line into disarray.

Bruno feinted a cross, fooling Gyömbér into jumping to block, but instead, Bruno pulled the ball back, bypassed Norbert, and cut inside horizontally.

"Stop him! Don't let him shoot!" Catania's goalkeeper, Andujar, yelled out.

Bruno didn't give Tahzidis, who came up to block, a chance to get close. He whipped his right foot through the ball, striking it powerfully toward the goal.

Andujar made a correct prediction and dove to his left, believing he could reach the ball.

With a fierce drive, the ball screamed past, brushing above Andujar's outstretched hand, slamming against the underside of the bar with a resounding clang, and then bouncing down into the goal.

"GOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLL!!!" the commentator from Sky TV Italy roared with excitement. "Bruno's powerful strike rebounds off the bar and into the net—an exhilarating goal that evens the score at 1-1 in the 67th minute!"

Although not a fan of Udinese, the commentator couldn't help but feel a sense of justice seeing Udinese equalize with such a spectacular goal after the controversial officiating in the first half.

"This goal should be disallowed!" shouted the commentator from Catania's local station, furious. "The attack started from a foul by Kanté on Castro—a clear and severe foul. But referee DeMarco, as if blind, did nothing!"

"As a referee, you must maintain basic fairness, but clearly, that was not evident here. Udinese scored from a significant foul, yet the referee ignored it all."

On the field, Catania players surrounded the referee, protesting that Udinese had committed a foul first, thus the goal should not count. Meanwhile, Udinese players celebrated vigorously; the contentious penalty decisions in the first half had frustrated them, and Bruno's goal provided a much-needed outlet.

On the sidelines, Guidolin and his assistants also celebrated the goal. Scoring before the game reached the 70-minute mark was crucial. They still had ample time to push for more goals and secure a victory.

"Foul! That goal was preceded by a foul!" Catania's coach, Luigi De Canio, protested furiously on the sidelines, his emotions so heated that his spit flew onto the fourth official's face.

Just three weeks earlier, De Canio's predecessor, Rolando Maran, was sacked due to poor results. As a firefighting coach, De Canio had managed only a draw and two losses in three games—a dismal record. He was not about to let this opportunity for a win slip away easily.

The fourth official wiped his face, stepped back, and said sternly, "Mr. De Canio, please calm down."

"My team conceded a goal because of a disgraceful call. How do you expect me to be calm!" De Canio yelled, thinking to himself that he couldn't afford to stay calm or he'd be out of a job soon. Seeing the fourth official's displeased expression, he reluctantly shut his mouth.

"This goal, from another perspective, could be a blessing in disguise," De Canio's assistant tried to console him. "At least we have nearly half an hour to turn the game around."

De Canio nodded, his expression hardening. Now that he had calmed down, he realized that complaining wouldn't change the score. What he needed to focus on was how to shift the game's momentum in their favor.