For the first time this season, Juventus tasted defeat in Serie A as Lazio tore through them to seal a stunning 3-1 victory at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday.
Going into the match unbeaten and within victory of reclaiming top spot from Inter, the Bianconeri got off to the perfect start through Cristiano Ronaldo’s tap in.
However, after Luiz Felipe nodded in an equaliser in first half stoppages, the tide of the match, and indeed the title race, turned in favour of the hosts.
Juan Cuadrado was sent off for his last man challenge on Andrea Lazzari, and the shackles were lifted for Lazio. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Felipe Caicedo netted, either side of Ciro Immobile’s missed penalty to seal a superb victory and move the Aquile to within three points of their opponents.
Lazio gathering momentum
Despite Ronaldo’s opener, Lazio traded blows with the champions and never let the match get away from them, before hitting Maurizio Sarri’s men with second half sucker punches.
Taking advantage of a Juventus team that has been far from convincing in recent weeks, and exploiting the space left behind by Cuadrado’s dismissal, the capital club looked like the only winners.
Victory was their seventh in a row on the domestic front, whilst only SPAL and Inter have taken maximum points off the Aquile this season. With leaders Inter floundering against Roma on Friday, Lazio can certainly stake a claim for making the title race a three horse race at the very least.
Bentancur injury stops Juventus in their tracks
Sitting pretty with a one goal advantage, Juventus’ game plan fell apart with the enforced withdrawal of midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur through injury late in the first half.
The Uruguay international was full of ideas and linked up expertly with Paulo Dybala, whilst it was his bursting run and pinpoint cross that set up Ronaldo for the opener.
However, a clumsy challenge on the edge of his own box saw him limp off in place of Emre Can, to the detriment of Juventus’ build up play. Lacking a creative spark to unlock Lazio, the Bianconeri’s attack was disjointed, with Paulo Dybala having to drop too deep and Cristiano Ronaldo often forced to circle back on himself in order to fashion space.
As the Bianconeri struggled to create in midfield, desperation set in and Lazio were able to ruthlessly tear them to shreds on the counter. Without Bentancur’s intricate play and control in the middle, Juventus’ struggled to impose themselves and paid the penalty.
Weight of history off Lazio’s shoulders
Recent history had not been kind to Lazio, with Juventus unbeaten in this fixture since Roberto Mancini led the capital club to a 2-0 win in December 2003.
However, Simone Inzaghi’s current crop have got the monkey off their backs now and can look forward, rather than suffering under the weight of a dire record against Juventus.
Aside from a tough trip to high-flying Cagliari, the Aquile have a manageable run of fixtures over the next six weeks and will be confident of more than having their say in the race for the Scudetto.
