Parma surprises Udinese: Elphege and Suzuki sign the three points
Parma returned to winning ways in Serie A after picking up just 4 points in their last six matches, and they did so on Friulian soil. In fact, the Ducali beat Udinese 1-0, a success signed by two players in particular: Nesta Elphege, who put his team ahead at 51′ with a sensational goal for technique and skill, and Zion Suzuki. The Japanese goalkeeper definitively put behind him the many problems he had in the season, from the injury to the doubts generated after his return to the field, securing the result in the final.
And to say that, after the back-and-forth between Circati and Zaniolo in the start of the match, Suzuki himself had risked an omelet before the 10′ minute by losing a bloody ball in the build-up phase: providential intervention by Keita. Zaniolo himself was among the best of his side in the first half, while Parma responded only with a Strefezza initiative. Udinese still dangerous before halftime with Atta. But the game turns at the beginning of the second half, in the span of just two minutes.
In fact, at 49′ it is Zaniolo and Atta who build the sharpest goal chance for Udinese, with Ndiaye saving everything. At 51′ then came the goal by Elphege, who received the ball from Strefezza, protected it with his body and managed with one touch to get past the Friulian rearguard and then present himself in front of Okoye beating him with a precise left-footed touch. The Frenchman could even double, then the end of the game was all in favor of the hosts. Kristensen’s header is inaccurate, then come Gueye’s crossbar and a Zaniolo miscue with the goal wide open. Then Suzuki becomes the protagonist by saving everything on the same Gueye and especially with a miracle on a great diagonal right-footed shot by Zaniolo.
A victory that is worth gold for Carlos Cuesta’s Parma, which with these three points gets even closer to mathematical salvation. The Ducali, who prior to this match already boasted a nine-point lead over the relegation zone, can now look forward to the final days of the championship with even greater serenity.
Suzuki’s performance takes on an even more special flavor in light of what the Japanese goalkeeper has experienced over the course of this season. Last November, in the home match against AC Milan, the class of 2002 had suffered a dislocated fracture in the third finger of his left hand and the scaphoid, an injury that kept him off the field for several months. Brought up in the Urawa Reds and passed through Belgium with the Sint-Truiden jersey before landing in Italy in the summer of 2024, Suzuki has shown today that he has regained his best condition in the most delicate moment of the season.
It is no coincidence that his name continues to circulate insistently in soccer market circles. His performances, culminating with the decisive save on Zaniolo in the Bluenergy Stadium finale, confirm the profile of a goalkeeper destined to play a leading role in the coming seasons as well. An important showcase, then, for Parma, which will be able to sit at the summer negotiating table with an asset of absolute value in its hands.
