20 July 2020
Juventus bounced back to claim a 2-1 Serie A win against Lazio at Allianz Stadium on Monday evening. Cristiano Ronaldo converted a penalty and scored a second after the break to ensure a victory for the Lady.
After having failed to win in their last three matches, the Bianconeri were looking to bounce back against a Lazio side that had seemingly lost the form they had before lockdown occurred. Douglas Costa was handed a starting birth as he marked his 100th appearance in the Bianconeri colours. Higuain was initially scheduled to start from the first minute, but an injury during the warm-up meant Dybala took his place.
GOALLESS FIRST HALF
It wasn’t a game of many opportunities in the opening minutes, but Alex Sandro did threaten with a glancing header that rattled off the outside of the post with 11 minutes on the clock. Lazio then attacked minutes later, and they saw their effort by Cataldi deflected wide. Juve were working the ball and remaining patient in their build-up, while Lazio were defending valiantly. In the 35th minute, Rabiot went on a good run with the ball at his feet: he worked his way into the box and fired at goal from a tight angle which saw Strakosha parry it out of play. Lazio came agonizingly close to breaking the deadlock when Immobile struck from just outside the box: it looked to have beaten Szczesny but bounced off the upright.
RONALDO DOUBLE
Juventus nearly went 1-0 up straight at the start of the second half when Dybala slalomed his way into the box, let rip, saw it saved by Strakosha, but then saw Ronaldo’s follow-up cleared off the line by Lazzarri. But things quickly turned on its head and the Bianconeri took the lead with two Ronaldo goals in three minutes: the first saw Ronaldo put home a penalty kick after Bastos was deemed to have handled the ball in the box, while the second saw Dybala do most of the work when he and Ronaldo broke the offside trap, ran side by side up towards goal. The Argentine then passed it through to Ronaldo, who finished it off in a calm manner to make it 2-0.
IMMOBILE PULLS ONE BACK
Ronaldo and Dybala then linked up after the hour mark when the Portuguese turned his header onto the crossbar. Anderson then threatened with an effort from range that sailed high off the target with the aid of Tek’s touch. Lazio did land up pulling a goal back when they were awarded a penalty after Bonucci was judged to have brought down Immobile. The Italian striker made no error from the spot and he fired the ball under Szczesny to make the scoreline 2-1 with eight minutes left to play. Sarri made a defensive change in the final minutes by bringing on Rugani in place of Dybala in order to ensure the three points stayed in Turin, and it worked out as the Lady claimed the victory.
Juventus: Szczesny; Cuadrado, De Ligt, Bonucci, Alex Sandro; Ramsey (Matuidi 57’), Bentancur, Rabiot; Douglas Costa (Danilo 57’), Dybala (Rugani 87’), Ronaldo
Juve bench: Buffon, Pinsoglio, Danilo, Rugani, Demiral, Wesley, Pjanic, Matuidi, Muratore, Higuain, Olivieri, Zanimacchia
Lazio: Strakosha; Bastos, Luiz Felipe, Acerbi; Lazzari, Milinkovic-Savic, Cataldi, Parolo, D Anderson; Caicedo, Immobile
Lazio bench: Proto, Guerrieri, Vavro, Armini, A Anderson, Falbo, Lukaku, Adekanye, Moro
