Fisayo Dele-Bashiru came off the bench to put in a shift that kept Lazio in a contest they had no business still being part of, yet his 45-minute cameo against Udinese will be remembered as much for what he did not do as for what he did, Footynaija.com reports.
Lazio went into Monday’s Serie A clash at Stadio Olimpico running on empty, having played 120 minutes at Bergamo just days earlier in the Coppa Italia semi-final.
The exhaustion showed from the first whistle. Udinese took an early lead through Kingsley Ehizibue before Lazio finally found their footing, with Luca Pellegrini equalising and Pedro putting them ahead.
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The closing stages then descended into chaos, as Arthur Atta scored twice in quick succession including a stoppage-time effort that looked to have stolen the points for Kosta Runjaic’s side, before Daniel Maldini rescued a 3-3 draw deep into added time.
In the middle of that swinging, frantic second half, Dele-Bashiru had the moment that could have killed the game. With Lazio leading 2-1 and in control, the Nigerian midfielder found himself in a position to put the result beyond doubt but failed to convert, a miss that Sarri believes opened the door to everything that followed.
Speaking in quotes revealed by Fanta Calcio Italy, the former Chelsea manager did not shy away from naming the moment directly.
“We entered as a team with a lot of nerves, we entered the game after half an hour. The second half was of excellent level, the turning point of the match on 2-1 is the missed goal opportunity with Dele-Bashiru. We immediately suffered the physical gap this evening, we went into difficulty on all the dirty balls in the penalty area. There was great character in looking for the draw as well,” Sarri said.
The Lazio coach also used the occasion to fire another shot at club president Claudio Lotito, blaming internal dysfunction for the broader difficulties the team has faced across the season.
For Dele-Bashiru, the evening added more complications to what has been an inconsistent campaign. He had ended a 13-month goal drought with a chip over the Atalanta goalkeeper in the Coppa Italia semi-final first leg just weeks earlier, only to find himself back in the conversation for the wrong reasons against Udinese.
