Serie A | Lecce 2-1 Udinese: Gandelman and Banda end desperate drought

Lecce ended their goal drought in style with Omri Gandelman and a late Lameck Banda free kick to defeat Udinese and break clear of the relegation zone.

The Salentini were sliding perilously after a run of just two points in eight rounds, though oddly those were against Juventus and Lazio. It was no secret where the problems lay, scoring only two goals in the last nine matches. Francesco Camarda and Medon Berisha were injured. The Friulani were fresh off back-to-back wins over Verona and Roma, so while Keinan Davis, Hassane Kamara, Adam Buksa, Jabuk Piotrowski and Alessandro Zanoli missed out, Nicolò Zaniolo was only fit for the bench after knee surgery.

See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.

January signing Walid Cheddira got his first start for Lecce and should’ve done better when nodding a Riccardo Sottil cross off target from six yards.

Lecce finally broke their goal drought after more than 430 minutes of football, with a gift from Udinese. They gave it away twice during that move, as Jesper Karlstrom slipped when trying to control the Cheddira roll across and allowed Omri Gandelman to sweep in undisturbed from 12 yards for his debut Serie A goal.

Sottil’s free kick skimmed the top of the crossbar, but Jordan Zemura ran onto the inspired Arthur Atta disguised pass off the outside of the boot, brought down by Kialonda Gaspar for a penalty. Unusually, defender Oumar Solet stepped up to take it and converted with a stuttering run-up to draw Udinese level.

Tiago Gabriel nodded a Sottil corner over, then Danilo Veiga’s scorcher was fingertipped over the bar by Maduka Okoye.

With very little in the way of threat and this being a must-win game, the crowd turned angrily on coach Eusebio Di Francesco for his substitutions, as they wanted more forwards to be playing together rather than simply refreshing the existing roles.

Ylber Ramadani tested Okoye from distance, while Zaniolo and Konan N’Dri drilled wide from promising positions.

Lecce were unlucky not to restore their advantage at the 87^th minute when Gandelman’s effort inside the area took a deflection and looped up, bouncing off the top of the crossbar.

Moments later, Banda was brought down just outside the area and converted the sensational free kick himself, bending it into the near top corner to send the crowd wild at the Stadio Via del Mare. It sealed their first victory of 2026.

Lecce 2-1 Udinese

Gandelman 5 (L), Solet pen 26 (U), Banda 90 (L)