Story of the match
Lazio entered their match in fine form having won six straight matches. As for Juventus, they were unbeaten in Serie A this season, however, the Biancocelesti put an end to that streak as they won 3-1. Although Lazio conceded the first goal of the match, they put in a strong effort.
Juventus got the first chance of the match. After some good passing among the Juventus players, Paolo Dybala had a nice shot on net just inside the box on the right side. The shot was stopped with by a sprawling save from goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha. Juventus’ continued pressure against Lazio finally rewarded the Bianconeri. At the 25th minute, Rodrigo Bentancur delivered a nice pass into the box and Cristiano Ronaldo beat the defender and found the back of the net.
Although Juventus took a 1-0 lead at the Stadio Olimpico, this didn’t stop Lazio in this match as, right before half-time, it was Lazio who applied the pressure on Juventus and were rewarded. Luis Alberto sent a beautiful pass from the left side just outside the box into the penalty area and Luiz Felipe headed the pass into the back of the net to tie the match at 1-1.
With Lazio tying the match right at the end of the half, it gave the Biancocelesti added motivation going into the second half. At the 65th minute, Lazio survived a scare after a poor giveaway from Strakosha. The goalkeeper sent a poor pass out from the backfield to Francesco Acerbi where he mishandled the ball and gave Dybala a clear break to score. Strakosha made a big save on Dybala to make up for his error and Stefan Radu challenged on the rebound to avoid Dybala from following up to score.
At the 65th minute, Alberto led Lazio on the counter-attack with a pass to Manuel Lazzari which gave him a chance to go all alone versus Wojciech Szczesny, yet Juan Cuadrado made a challenge on Lazzari to prevent him from a chance and got a yellow card. The play was reviewed by Video Assistant Referee and the call was overturned which resulted in a red card to Cuadrado and the Bianconeri were a man down with just over 20 minutes remaining.
Lazio took full advantage of their opportunity. At the 74th minute, Alberto sent a beautiful pass to Sergej Milinkovic-Savic from midfield into the box where the midfielder got a nice touch on the ball and then shot it into the back of the net. The goal gave Lazio a 2-1 lead and Juventus found themselves down for the first time in this match.
At the 78th minute, Ciro Immobile had the chance to extend his scoring streak to ten games and Lazio’s lead to 3-1 after being rewarded a penalty shot. The Italian was unable to convert on his opportunity after a fine save from Szczesny. Although Immobile missed his opportunity, at the 93rd minute, Felipe Caicedo put this game to rest. Lazzari took a shot on net after a counter-attack which was saved by the goalkeeper and the forward followed up on the save made to score and give Lazio a 3-1 win.
Takeaways from the match
The result gave Maurizio Sarri his first loss this season and ended Juventus’ unbeaten streak in the Serie A. The win from Lazio now has the Biancocelesti three points back of Juventus and five back of Inter Milan for first place. The Biancocelesti delivered a strong performance and have now shown that they will make it tough for Inter and Juventus this season.
Immobile’s scoring streak ends at nine games, yet he still leads the league in goals with 17. The striker had a chance to extend his streak but was denied on a penalty shot.
Player of the match
Alberto continues to have a strong season as the midfielder had two assists in the match. The Spaniard now leads the league with 11 assists and continues to be a vital part of Lazio’s success this year. Alberto also started a counter-attack when he sent a pass to Lazzari which led to Cuadrado’s challenge on the play and resulted in a red card. After a poor 2018/19 season, it seems the midfielder has found his form from the season prior.