The hosts took the lead through Jesper Karlstrom early in the second half, but goals from Davide Frattesi and Albert Gudmundsson turned the game around for Gennaro Gattuso’s side.
Runjaic admitted the two first-half injuries significantly complicated his ability to manage the game, particularly after Udinese were forced to use two substitution slots before the interval.
“We lost Piotrowski and Solet and we paid a heavy price for those two changes, as we lost two substitution slots, so I had doubts,” Runjaic told DAZN, with quotes via TuttoMercatoWeb.
“Lazio played well, they are a strong team and they have bought strong players. They started as favourites. We could have taken a point, but they certainly deserved to score at least one goal.”
Runjaic ‘didn’t want to risk Davis’ after double injury blow in first half of Lazio defeat
The Udinese coach also explained his decision to withdraw Keinan Davis in the second half, insisting he did not want to risk the striker as his side struggled to retain possession.
“Both teams were tired, but we have to respect their qualities and we weren’t able to have the possession we wanted. I didn’t want to risk Davis and the changes in the first half affected us.”
Runjaic also admitted Udinese lack a natural alternative to Davis, while summer signing James Abankwah still needs time to adapt to the demands of Serie A.
“Abankwah still has to adapt to the pace of Serie A and, in terms of the changes, Lazio were superior.”
