Udinese Coach Laments: “We Knew Inter Milan’s Strength But We Conceded Easy Goals”

UDINE, ITALY - APRIL 08: Maduka Okoye of Udinese Calcio during the Serie A TIM match between Udinese Calcio and FC Internazionale - Serie A TIM at Dacia Arena on April 08, 2024 in Udine, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)

Udinese coach Kosta Runjaic feels his side could have registered a better result against Inter Milan, but they ended shipping in avoidable goals.

Ahead of Saturday’s encounter at the Bluenergy Stadium, both sides were coming off a defeat in the previous weekend. The Zebrette suffered a 0-3 humbling at the hands of Roma, while the Nerazzurri fell short in the Derby della Madonnina against AC Milan.

But even though Udinese arrived ahead of Inter in the Serie A standing, the reigning Italian champions were the odds-on favorites according to all top betting sites NZ and everywhere else in the world.

Simone Inzaghi’s men needed less than a minute to confirm their superiority. Davide Frattesi consolidated his status as Udinese’s ultimate bogeyman by finding the back of the net just over 40 seconds after the kickoff.

Nevertheless, Christian Kabesele equalized for the hosts. However, Lautaro Martinez finally broke his duck for the new campaign by scoring a scrappy, yet vital goal in the dying embers of the first period.

The Argentine then completed his brace with a lovely strike just after the restart.

Lorenzo Lucca came off the bench to pull one back for the home side in the final stretch. Yet, it wasn’t enough to avoid his team’s second Serie A defeat in a row.

After the contest, Runjaic admitted Inter are on a whole different level. However, he rued the easy goals his team conceded.

“It was an interesting match for us and the fans,” said the German tactician in his post-match interview with DAZN via FcInterNews.

Kosta Runjaic Explained What When Wrong For Udinese Against Inter Milan

“On the one hand, there is the fact that we were in the game. But on the other hand, we lost.

“It was an entertaining match. We knew Inter’s strength but we conceded too many easy goals. Nevertheless, we were good at reacting.”

Runjaic also revealed he switched to a three-man midfield to counter Inter’s system.

“Inter is a team that plays a lot of possession, so I decided to add an extra man in midfield. It wasn’t a question of formation.

“At certain times we were unlucky, we conceded goals due to our mistakes. The system can always be variable.”

The Udinese manager feels his team is gradually assimilating to his style of football.

“Today we played a good match. It’s a long process for us. Udinese was last in almost all the statistics last season, I have faith in the team.’