15 January 2020
Juventus progressed into the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia after they claimed an impressive 4-0 victory over Udinese at Allianz Stadium on Wednesday evening. Gonzalo Higuain opened the scoring as Paulo Dybala grabbed a brace, while Douglas Costa added the fourth goal through a penalty.
THE PIPA – LA JOYA SHOW!
From the offset the Bianconeri were knocking on Udinese’s door, and they needed just 16 minutes on the clock to break the deadlock and they did so in a beautiful manger. The move involved Dybala and Higuain, who interchanged in a duet of passes to see Pipa break through the offside trap and knock home La Joya’s looping ball. The lead was doubled 10 minutes later when Bernardeschi was brought down in the box by Nicolas. The referee pointed to the spot and it allowed for Dybala to stand up and slot home the penalty to make it 2-0 in favour of the hosts. The chemistry between the two Argentine’s was undeniable and they combined again in the 35th minute when Dybala crossed the ball over to Higuain on the other side of the goal frame: the striker controlled the ball with his chest before firing on the volley, only to see his effort go wide.
DYBALA & DOUGLAS COSTA BAG THE POKER
Higuain thought he started the second half in the same manner in which he did the first: by grabbing a goal. Nicolas made the save off Matthijs de Ligt’s shot and the rebound fell into the path of Higuain who slotted it into the back of the net, however it was later ruled out by VAR for offside on the Dutchman. But that didn’t stop the Bianconeri from continuing their attacking play, and they did make it 3-0 when Higuain played the ball through to Dybala, the Argentine burst into the box and cheekily curled in an effortless past Nicolas into the far post. It was one-way traffic and Douglas Costa soon added a fourth goal on the stroke of the hour when he converted a penalty following a handball in the box by Nuytinck. Cuadrado, Ramsey and Pjaca were then brought on in place of Douglas Costa, Rabiot and Dybala, with Pjaca making his seasonal debut for the Bianconeri. Daniele Rugani came agonizingly close to adding a fifth goal for the hosts, with a header that clipped the woodwork. Udinese had one last hope on the stroke of full-time to pull a goal back, but their free-kick by Jajalo flew over the target.
Juventus XI: Buffon; Danilo, de Ligt, Rugani, Alex Sandro; Bentancur, Rabiot (Ramsey 71’), Bernardeschi; Douglas Costa (Cuadrado 63’); Higuain, Dybala (Pjaca 73’)
Substitutes: Szczesny, Pinsoglio, Pjanic, Ramsey, Matuidi, Cuadrado, Bonucci, Pjaca, Emre Can, Coccolo
Udinese XI: Nicolas; Opoku, De Maio, Nuytinck; Ter-Avest, Barak, Jajalo, Walace, Sema; Nestorovski, Teodorczyk
Substitutes: Musso, Perisan, Troost-Ekong, Fofana, Okaka, De Paul, Lasagna, Stryger-Larsen, Mandragora, Becao
