A magnificent Senad Lulic volley saw Lazio lift the Supercoppa Italiana with a 3-1 win over Juventus at the King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh on Sunday.
The Bosnian full-back rifled in at the back post late on to give Lazio victory, having previously set up Luis Alberto for an early opener.
Paulo Dybala had drawn Juventus level on the stroke of half time as he reacted quickest to tap in from Cristiano Ronaldo’s saved strike, but after Rodrigo Bentancur was sent off in stoppage time, a stunning Danilo Cataldi freekick saw the Biancoceleste crowned champions in Saudi Arabia.
Despite dominating the early possession, Juventus found themselves behind within the opening quarter of an hour. Lulic broke in behind and turned Mattia De Sciglio on the touchline, before bending a teasing cross to the back post, and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic teed the ball into the path of Luis Alberto to fire home.
The Spaniard almost doubled the lead soon after as he took advantage of slack defending to jink into the box, but Wojciech Szczesny smothered his low effort.
Midway through the first half Juventus came alive again and Ronaldo’s clever through ball ought to have been finished by Dybala, but the Argentine sliced over.
The Bianconeri pair combined again with a fine one-two, preceded by a mazy Ronaldo dribble, to win a freekick on the edge of the box, and Dybala’s strike whistled inches wide.
Juventus eventually equalised on the stroke of half time, and it was their creative duo that were at the heart of the action once more.
Pressing high up the pitch, Miralem Pjanic won possession in the final third and the ball found it’s way to Ronaldo on the edge of the box, who forced a low stop from Thomas Strakosha. Dybala reacted quickest to tap into an empty net and draw the Serie A champions level.
In a tight second half, Juventus pushed for a winner and Gonzalo Higuain forced a good save, but it was Lazio who broke the deadlock. Andrea Lazzari got to the byline and whipped in a deflected cross to the backpost, where Lulic was waiting to meet the ball with a vicious volley beyond Szczesny.
Juventus continued to press with greater urgency but struggled to fashion a clear opening, as Ronaldo’s flicked pass was cleared before substitute Douglas Costa could apply the finish.
At the other end, Lazio had the ball in the back of the net as Joaquin Correa raced onto Felipe Caicedo’s pass over the top, but the Spaniard was ruled offside.
Deep into stoppage time, Juventus saw a freekick cannon off the wall for Correa to lead a rapid counterattack. Szczesny got down well to block the Aquile forward but Bentancur brought down Cataldi and received his marching orders. From the resulting freekick, Cataldi smashed in off the underside of the crossbar to seal victory for Lazio.
