Roma to play out 18-minute game with Udinese

AS Roma scored a last-gasp goal to beat relegation-threatened Udinese after the teams played out the final 18 minutes of their Serie A clash on Thursday, nearly two weeks after Evan Ndicka‘s on-pitch collapse caused the game to be suspended.

Bryan Cristante headed in a corner in the closing seconds of stoppage time to give Roma a 2-1 win after the game had resumed with the score tied 1-1.

Unlike in other leagues, where the full match would have to be replayed, Serie A dictated that the match at the Bluenergy Stadium can be resumed from the moment it was stopped. Luton Town‘s Premier League fixture with Bournemouth was suspended after Tom Lockyer suffered a cardiac arrest in December, and the teams returned to play out the match in full on March 13.

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Roma’s Romelu Lukaku had equalised after Roberto Pereyra‘s first-half opener in the original game. Serie A regulations stipulate that the clubs are allowed to select entirely different players for the remainder of the match, with the only exceptions being players who were substituted off during the completed 72 minutes of play.

Ndicka has been cleared to resume sporting activity after undergoing a series of tests.

During the initial incident, Ndicka was conscious but visibly in pain, rubbing his chest with his right hand as the medical team rushed towards him. He was discharged from the hospital a day after the incident, which occurred on April 14.

The game had significant consequences for both teams, with the win cementing Roma in the fifth and final Champions League place and Udinese only outside the relegation zone on goal difference.

Udinese were under the managerial stewardship of 2006 World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro for the first time in the partial match on Wednesday, with the 50-year-old appointed to the post on Monday.