Juventus were held by Udinese in a drab affair which finished 0–0 at the Stadio Friuli on Sunday afternoon in Serie A.
All communication out of Turin this week has claimed that a six-point lead over Roma would not be enough to guarantee another Scudetto for the Bianconeri, but their performance against Udinese could have fooled spectators into believing they felt comfortable enough in only extending the lead to seven points.
An Udinese team depleted from injuries and the African Cup of Nations, was expected to cause the The Old Lady few problems, but a spirited defensive performance combined with dangerous counter-attacking from the hosts, made for a starkly different outcome.
Juventus were rather slow out of the blocks, spending much of the early stages passing the ball well in possession but failing to create much in the way of chances. If anything, Udinese looked the more threatening proposition on the counter than Juventus, for all their possession.
Bruno Fernandes almost had the best opportunity of the game on 12 minutes when he found space beyond the Juventus defence, after Di Natale played him through, but the Brazilian lost control of the ball under his feet and his eventual shot dragged wide of Gianluigi Buffon’s goal.
Juventus’ best advances were limited to a trademark Paul Pogba drive but his wide, low effort was never a problem for Greek stopper Orestis Karnezis in the goal for Udinese.
Carlos Tevez wasted the away side’s best chance of the first half when he blazed over from inside the box on the right hand side following good hold up play and a pass from Fernando Llorente.
Massimiliano Allegri’s Bianconeri continued to dominate possession for the rest of the half but lacked any kind of spark to find an opening and a lead in the game as the first half ended at an uninspiring 0–0 scoreline.
Pereyra looked to take the initiative for on 57 minutes but saw his volleyed attempt crack against the crossbar and keep the game goalless.
Juventus feathers were becoming noticeably ruffled as they continued to struggle when Giorgio Chiellini reacted angrily to some close attention from Udinese’s Allan, who had a fantastic game disrupting the flow of the Juventus midfield.
With the game meandering towards a seemingly inevitable bore draw, Tevez wasted arguably the chance of the match on 82 minutes when Morata found space down the left and crossed towards Pogba, who played it back to the Argentinian striker only for him to fire a left-fooedt shot wide.
As the game drew to a close, neither side seemed willing to risk too much to win the points, rendering the final 10 minutes as tame as the other 80 that had preceded them. The game ended 0–0.
