Super Eagles goalkeeper Maduka Okoye endured a difficult outing as Udinese suffered their fourth consecutive defeat, losing 2-1 to Torino in the Italian Serie A on Monday.
Okoye’s costly error proved decisive in the 67th minute, allowing substitute Sandro Kulenovic to score the winner after Udinese had fought back to level the contest.
Torino opened the scoring through Daniel Bragança in the 36th minute, but Jurgen Ekkelenkamp restored parity for Udinese seven minutes later.
The visitors appeared poised to recover until a poorly timed clearance attempt by Okoye resulted in a collision with teammate Nicolo Bertola. The mishap left Kulenovic with an open goal, which he calmly exploited to put Torino back in front.
Udinese coach Kosta Runjaic expressed disappointment with the defensive lapse, comparing it to an earlier mistake that contributed to his team’s defeat against Cagliari before the international break.
“We lost because of a big mistake, like against Cagliari. As head coach, I’m responsible too. It was a lack of communication and perception, and with mistakes like these you end up losing games,” Runjaic said, according to Football Italia, citing TuttoMercatoWeb.
The German coach also criticised his side’s limited attacking threat, noting that Udinese created few clear opportunities and conceded Torino’s opener from a set piece.
Despite the disappointing result, Runjaic pledged to maintain team unity and morale as the players work to reverse their poor run.
“I’ll try to keep the team united and morale high. In the end, the result is that we lost, and we have to get through this moment by encouraging one another,” he said.
Udinese have now collected just four points from six league matches, intensifying pressure on the team to improve their results.
Runjaic nevertheless praised defender Oumar Solet and goalscorer Ekkelenkamp, while expressing hope that returning injured players would strengthen the squad in the coming weeks.
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