Udinese stun toothless Juve in Serie A
Juventus are seemingly out of the race for the Serie A title, as they sank to a shock 1-0 home defeat to Udinese.
The Serie A title race became more excited after both the top two teams registered victories in their respective matches on Tuesday. While Juventus thrashed Genoa 3-1, Lazio came back from behind to overpower Tarino 2-1.
Juventus left-back Danilo returned to action, while to-be-Barcelona player Miralem Pjanic led the midfield and, as usual, Cristiano Ronaldo, Paulo Dybala and Federico Bernardeschi formed the attacking trident at the empty Luigi Ferraris Stadium.
After playing a goalless first half, the Old Lady upped their ante after the break and took what they wanted within five minutes. Argentine youngster Dybala broke the deadlock in the 50th minute when he scored with a low-strike after a mazy run in the box.
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In another six minutes, Portuguese stalwart Ronaldo took the Turin-based club 2-0 up as he surged forward from the midfield, smashing in a missile with both power and precision.
The defending Serie A champions sealed the fate of the match in the 72nd minute when Douglas Costa scored within six minutes of his introduction by Maurizio Sarri.
Meanwhile, the home side scored a consolation from Andrea Pinamonti’s angled drive.
Lazio win
In the preceding fixture of the day, Lazio produced a commendable comeback at the Olympic Grande Torino Stadium. The win took their tally to 68 points in 29 matches and helped them to stay at a touching distance from table-toppers Juventus who have 72 points from the same number matches.
The 13th placed Torino had a dream start to the game as they went ahead in just five minutes after the first whistle. The home side were awarded a penalty due to Immobile’s handball, which Andrea Belotti converted.
Immobile, who has scored the most goals in the current Serie A season, atoned for his error just three minutes after the break, wiping out Belotti’s opener with a daisy-cutter.
The Aquile turned the game around in the 72nd minute when Parolo tried a long shot which deflected off a defender to go beyond a helpless Salvatore Sirigu in the Torino goal.
With IANS inputs
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