Empoli and Udinese they divide the stakes: it ends at Castellani 1-1 with a goal in each half. The Tuscans and Friulians rise to 16 and 17 respectively in the rankings, both maintaining a good margin of 7 and 8 points on the safety zone. Mirror teams with the 3-5-2: D’Aversa finds Esposito again after more than a month but makes him start from the bench, the duo of Pellegri and Colombo on the pitch. Runjaic confirms the attacking tandem, Thauvin-Davis, seen in the last outings before the break, out of Lucca. Few emotions in a start in which the tactical aspect prevails over the spectacular component.
A cross from Colombo almost becomes a shot in the quarter of an hour and hits the top of the crossbar, while the first real shot is from Cacace and Okoye neutralizes it without difficulty. Just a minute later Empoli broke the deadlock: Cacace’s through ball Pellegri who is very quick to turn around at the edge of the area and kick hard with the right towards the bottom corner. The goalkeeper dives but doesn’t arrive and the former Torino player scores his third consecutive goal in as many games. Having fallen behind, Udinese raises their center of gravity. Vasquez blocks a powerful, central shot from Thauvin who then has another chance in traffic but misses the target. At the end of the test time Lovric also: ball wide.
At the start of the second half Runjaic puts Zemura on for Giannetti to switch to a back four and adds a man in attack: Kamara out and Lucca in together with Davis with Thauvin as playmaker. Udinese thus becomes more enterprising, but Empoli does not seem to be suffering. Lucca protests for a hand from Cacace in the area, but Marinelli can play and the VAR also certifies the decision of the on-field referee. In a moment of relative tranquility, like a bolt from the blue, the away equalizer arrives: tense corner from Lovric, cut to the near post by Davis who anticipates everyone and beats Vasquez with his head. The 1-1 is an injection of further confidence for the Friulians who continue to keep the home team in their half of the field. As the minutes pass, however, the energy begins to run out and the forcing decreases in intensity: we reach the final whistle without further shivers and with a point that leaves everyone satisfied.