07 December 2019
Juventus failed to bring home all three points for the first time this season when they fell to a 3-1 defeat to Lazio at Stadio Olimpico on Saturday evening. Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring, but Simone Inzaghi’s side fought back from behind to ensure the victory.
RONALDO BREAKS THE DEADLOCK
Lazio were oozing confidence with every touch of the ball, and they had a good chance fall to them in the fourth minute of action when Milinkovic-Savic who picked up Cuadrado’s cross in the midfield and played it up towards Immobile. He connected with it inside the box and took a shot at goal, only for de Ligt to deflect it out of play. Paulo Dybala almost mimicked the goal he scored against Atletico Madrid when he stood over the ball at the corner flag and delivered in a cross that smacked the woodwork. The Bianconeri were also setting their intensions from early on, and they created another good scoring chance when Ronaldo’s cross found Bernardeschi at the back post, but he nodded it inches wide of the goal. The scoreline went 0-1 in favour of the Bianconeri with 25 minutes on the clock when Bentancur played in an excellent cross across the face of goal, it fell to the feet of Ronaldo, who made no mistake and tapped it home from a yard out.
LUIZ FELIPE MAKES IT 1-1
Emre Can was brought on in place of the injured Bentancur five minutes before the half time whistle, while Ronaldo came close to double the lead. Bernardeschi sprung the offside trap and fed the ball to Ronaldo, who sent in a diving header, but it was saved on the line by Strakosha. Lazio capitalized on that opportunity by changing the scoring to 1-1 at the stroke of half time through a glancing header by Luiz Felipe, following a well-played short corner move.
JUVE DOWN TO 10, LAZIO CAPATALISE
The second half commenced with a frenetic pace to it. Dybala then got onto the end on a misplaced pass by Strakosha, to fire straight at him, while Cuadrado was then sent off after being shown an instant red (via VAR consultation) in the 68th minute after bringing down Lazzari as the last man. That meant Bernardeschi was called on to make way for Danilo, while Lazio took full benefit of the man advantage and they took the lead in the 75th minute when Milinkovic-Savic brilliantly controlled a long-ball with his right foot and blasted it past Szczesny from a couple of yards out with his left.
TEK DOUBLE SAVE OFF PENALTY, CAICEDO SCORES LATE
A few minutes later, Immobile was lining up a penalty after Correa was brought down in the box by Szczesny. The Juve goalkeeper went from zero to hero in a matter of seconds as he brilliantly denied Ciro not once but twice, by saving the initial effort and then the rebound, to keep the scoreline at 2-1. Maurizio Sarri then introduced Higuain in place of Dybala with 13 minutes to go, but he couldn’t make the desired impact as Lazio snatched a stoppage time goal through Caicedo to put the result beyond reach.
Lazio: Strakosha; Luiz Felipe, Acerbi, Radu; Lazzari, Milinkovic-Savic, Leiva, Luis Alberto, Lulic; Correa, Immobile
Juventus: Szczesny; Cuadrado, Bonucci, De Ligt, Alex Sandro; Bentancur (Can 40’), Pjanic, Matuidi; Bernardeschi (Danilo 70’); Dybala, Ronaldo
Substitutes: Buffon, Pinsoglio, De Sciglio, Danilo, Rugani, Demiral, Emre Can, Rabiot, Muratore, Portanova, Pjaca, Higuain
