Pellegrini and Dovbyk: A ‘very important’ win for Roma against Udinese | OneFootball

Roma grabbed their first away win of the season in Serie A by coming back from behind to beat Udinese 2-1 thanks to goals from Lorenzo Pellegrini and Artem Dovbyk, who believe it was ‘very important’ for their side to pick up three points and continue to show progress under Claudio Ranieri.

The Giallorossi are unbeaten in their last six games, confirming the arrival of the former Leicester coach has brought a breath of fresh air to the Stadio Olimpico, but they need to keep pushing to make up for the ground they lost in the opening part of the season.

UDINE, ITALY – JANUARY 26: Artem Dovbyk of AS Roma celebrates after scoring his team second goal during the Serie A match between Udinese and AS Roma at Stadio Friuli on January 26, 2025 in Udine, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)

Pellegrini and Dovbyk agreed to take one penalty each to disrupt goalkeeper

Both Pellegrini and Dovbyk scored from the penalty spot in the second half, with the latter revealing the decision to change the player who would carry up the task was aimed at disrupting Udinese’s goalkeeper Răzvan Sava.

“It was our plan, because we wanted to disrupt a little bit the goalkeeper,” the striker told DAZN after the game,

“The plan worked perfectly, and I’m happy, three very important points for us today. I try to help my team and for us, it was very important to get the three points, we keep going.”

Pellegrini was awarded the Man of the Match prize and explained the Giallorossi were confident to be able to turn things around at half-time despite trailing 1-0.

“It was important to win for our standings, and because, as has been said many times, we’ve been struggling a bit away from home,” Roma’s captain said.

UDINE, ITALY – JANUARY 26: Lorenzo Pellegrini of AS Roma celebrates after scoring the 1-1 goal during the Serie A match between Udinese and AS Roma at Stadio Friuli on January 26, 2025 in Udine, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)

“We went behind in the first half, which, in my opinion, was undeserved, so in the locker room we motivated each other because we were doing a lot of good things but not getting the results. We managed to win this match, and it was really important for us.

At home, we’ve found our rhythm and form since the coach arrived, everything was going according to plan.

“What we were missing was a win away, and today we said to ourselves—at halftime, we thought we were doing a lot of positive things, but we were losing. The team responded really well.

You can tell when a team goes on the field and wants to win as if it’s a matter of life and death, and that was the case today.”