22 December 2019
Juventus were denied a ninth Italian Super Cup title after falling 1-3 to Lazio at King Saud University Stadium on Sunday evening in Riyadh. Paulo Dybala’s goal wasn’t enough for Juventus, as Lazio scored two second half goals to claim the trophy.
LUIS ALBERTO STINGS THE BACK OF THE NET
The first chance of the game fell to Lazio when a promising attacking move saw Luis Alberto fire towards goal, and he saw his effort curl just over the crossbar. The Roman club were looking very dangerous on the attack and they took the lead in the 16th minute when Lulic cut back and passed to Milinkovic-Savic, he knocked it back for Luis Alberto who fired it into the back of the net. Juventus tried to respond with an equalizer minutes later when Higuain received the ball on the edge of the box, he laid it off to Ronaldo, whose shot whisked just wide of goal.
DYBALA PULLS LEVEL!
Juventus went pushing for their equalizer, and a great opportunity fell to them on the half hour when Cristiano Ronaldo was brought down in the box: Paulo Dybala stood over to take it and he curled in a powerful strike that went out by not much. Lazio then forced Szczesny into making another save when Milinkovic-Savic flicked the ball onto Correa, who fired a low drive at goal which saw the keeper palm it away. The Bianconeri did make it 1-1 on the stroke of half-time when Ronaldo pulled off some fancy footwork to fire at goal, Straskova made the initial save but he couldn’t deny Dybala’s rebounded shot.
JUVE PUSH
It was the defending champions who started off well in the second half, when Ronaldo slalomed his way and fed the ball to Dybala: the No.10 struck just wide. Juan Cuadrado was then brought on in place of De Sciglio, and he was followed by Ramsey’s introduction to the game in place of Higuain. Ronaldo came agonizingly close to handing Juventus the lead: Ramsey set him up and he whacked in an effort that skimmed just over the target.
LULIC SECURES VICTORY
Juve’s missed chances was Lazio’s gain as they took the lead again in the 73rd minute: Milinkovic-Savic flicked the ball with his head, it fell to the feet of Lulic, who fired home an unstoppable volley. Douglas Costa was then brought on in place of Matuidi in order to help turn around the result, while Strakosha saved Dybala’s header from seven yards out. The final minutes were very entertaining as Juventus went in search of a late equalizer, while Lazio were looking to wrap up the victory. Juventus came agonizingly close to sending the game into extra time when Bonucci directed his header inches wide of the goal, but it was Lazio who would go on to lift the trophy. Bentancur was shown an immediate red card for a last-man challenge, and it resulted in Lazio scoring a stoppage time goal through Cataldi’s free-kick that sailed under the bar.
Juventus: Szczesny; De Sciglio (Cuadrado 56’), Bonucci, Demiral, Alex Sandro; Bentancur, Pjanic, Matuidi (Douglas Costa 73’); Dybala, Higuain (Ramsey 67’), Ronaldo
Substitutes: Buffon, Pinsoglio, de Ligt, Danilo, Rugani, Ramsey, Emre Can, Rabiot, Douglas Costa, Cuadrado, Pjaca, Bernardeschi
Lazio: Strakosha; Luiz Felipe, Acerbi, Radu; Lazzari, Milinkovic-Savic, Lucas Leiva, Luis Alberto, Lulic; Immobile, Correa
Substitutes: Proto, Guerrieri, Bastos, Patric, Parolo, Cataldi, Berisha, Marusic, Jony, André Anderson, Adekanye, Caicedo
