Juventus comfortably brushed aside a plucky Lazio team 3-0 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Saturday evening.
Paul Pogba capped off a fine counter attack to open the scoring for the Serie A table-toppers midway through the first half. Carlos Tevez grabbed a second early in the second half, before Pogba got another minutes later.
Here are our player ratings for the game. Let us know what you think by leaving a comment below.
Lazio
Federico Marchetti – 5.5 – Exposed
Could do little about the first two goals as he was exposed by his defence. But let the third get under his body, but made a brilliant reaction save from a Mattiello thunder strike.
Dusan Basta – 5 – Weakness
Somewhat culpable for all the goals. Never got close enough to his men at all. Off the pace going forward and a weakness at the back.
Stefan De Vrij – 5.5 – Effort
Put an early header over the bar and made a brilliant tackle to stop Tevez in his tracks, with two men unmarked in the box. However, couldn’t deal with some excellent attacking play from the visitors in the second half.
Lorik Cana – 4.5 – Absent
Nowhere to be seen on first goal. Was pulled all over the pitch by Pereyra and Tevez’s movement. Must do better.
Edson Braafheid – 5.5 – Position
Took too long to close Tevez down for the first, and was out of position on numerous occasions. Lichtsteiner had the run of the Lazio left-side. Was the best of a bad bunch.
Marco Parolo – 5.5 – Shadow
Overshadowed by a brilliant performance by Pogba. Didn’t offer much going forward and Juve’s runners were rarely picked up.
Lucas Biglia – 6 – Tried
Tried to dictate the tempo for his side, but couldn’t get a hold on the game. Ran his heart out as he does, though it wasn’t enough.
Senad Lulic – 5.5 – Nowhere
Let Pogba get beyond him on the first goal and shirked his defensive duties all too often.
Keita Balde – 5 – AWOL
One effort from close range fired high and wide. But struggled against a tight Juve backline.
Miroslav Klose – 4.5 – Controlled
Made a nuisance of himself particularly early in the game, though was off the pace and never tested Buffon at all. Chiellini had him under complete control.
Antonio Candreva – 6.5 – Spark
Two shots of note. One went inches wide and another, a free kick, smashed straight at Buffon. Lazio’s main creative spark but was limited to a few long-range efforts.
Substitutes
Felipe Anderson – 6 – Intense
Replaced Keita on 57 minutes. Played with an intensity that Keita lacked and had a good couple of runs, but well handled nonetheless.
Filip Djordjevic – 5.5 – Same
On for Klose after 57 minutes and faired little better than the German.
Luis Cavanda – N/A
Late replacement for Basta.
Juventus
Gianluigi Buffon – 6 – Enough
Saved and held onto a stinging Candreva free kick got behind another. Not perfect, but did what he had to do.
Stephan Lichtsteiner – 6 – Workhorse
Marshalled Keita well in first half and started the counter for the second goal. Got up and down the right side well.
Leonardo Bonucci – 6 – Distributor
Was sluggish early on when Lazio were in the ascendency, but grew into the match as his distribution came to the fore.
Giorgio Chiellini – 6.5 – Rock
Blocked and headed everything that came close to him, the rock at the back for Juve, negating both Klose and Djordjevic.
Simone Padoin – 5 – Off
Was targeted by Lazio as a weak link early on, but handled himself well and got forward at times, slaloming his way past Lazio’s defence. Stupidly sent off for collecting two yellow cards.
Claudio Marchisio – 6.5 – Grew
Was fairly quiet in the opening 45 minutes. Great touch and awareness to find Tevez for the second.
Andrea Pirlo – 7 – Ticking
Kept things ticking over as his teammates stole the headlines. Started the counter for the opening goal.
Paul Pogba – 8 – Impeccable
Showed great strength and determination to run from the edge of his box for the first goal. Smacked the post with a spectacular curling shot soon after, but got a second on the hour mark. Absolutely brilliant all-round midfield display.
Roberto Pereyra – 7 – Problems
Created a number of problems in the first 45, then capped an encouraging display with a deft through-ball for Pogba’s second.
Carlos Tevez – 7 – Dangerous
Excellent vision and touch on the counter-attack to pick out Pogba for the opener. Showed brilliant awareness and trickery all night, a nightmare for Lazio to deal with and got a deserved goal.
Fernando Llorente – 5 – Absent
Something of a ‘usual’ performance from the Spaniard. Fairly absent for the majority before being hauled off after an hour.
Substitutes
Alvaro Morata – 6 – Move
On after an hour for Llorente. Added more pace and movement to the frontline.
Federico Mattiello – N/A
Replaced Peyreyra after 72 minutes. Produced a rocket of a shot that was well saved.
Arturo Vidal – N/A
Took the place of Pirlo after 76 minutes.
