Juventus put in another impressive early season display at the Stadio Olimpico tonight, although they had to settle for just a 1-0 victory over Udinese, with Amauri grabbing the winner midway through the second half.
Team News
Juventus drew their opening game of the season at Fiorentina 1-1 after conceding a late equaliser, but were hoping to get on the winning trail this evening. The Bianconeri’s injury worries were slowly clearing up, and Giorgio Chiellini returned in defence at the expense of the omitted Nicola Legrottaglie. Juve were still without Cristiano Zanetti, Jonathan Zebina and long-term absentee Jorge Andrade. Momo Sissoko returned from suspension to partner Christian Poulsen in midfield, while Amauri and Vincenzo Iaquinta were the frontmen, with Alex Del Piero on the bench.
Udinese had an excellent start to the new campaign a fortnight ago, defeating Palermo 3-1. Star man Antonio Di Natale, who scored twice in that fixture, led the forward trident along with Fabio Quagliarella and Simone Pepe. Highly rated young defensive duo Felipe and Christian Zapata, both rumoured to be targets of Juventus, were unavailable due to injury.
First Half
Juventus made a strong start, with Mauro Camoranesi's corner kick being met by Iaquinta, but his header sailed high over the crossbar. On five minutes Iaquinta had the ball in the back of the net after he got onto Nedved’s through pass, but the goal was correctly chalked off for offside.
Sissoko and Poulsen were taking charge of the midfield, allowing Camoranesi licence to burst forward, and the Italo-Argentine took advantage of this to curl an effort over the bar. Iaquinta then had his third attempt within the first ten minutes as his half volley was deflected towards the top corner, but Samir Handanovic tipped the ball over the bar.
On 16 minutes Juve were desperately close to taking the lead, as Amauri thundered in a header from Camoranesi’s right wing cross, but the ball rebounded off the post before Andrea Coda made a fine challenge to beat Iaquinta to the follow-up.
Juve were swarming all over their opponents. Amauri fired a shot into the side-netting, Chiellini had a header from a corner blocked by Coda, while Nedved brought out a smart stop from Handanovic with a trademark drive.
It took until the 26th minute for Udinese to register their first attempt of the game, as Pepe dragged a long shot from 25 yards well wide of the post.
Moments later, Juve again went close as Camoranesi surged past a couple of men and floated a cross to the far post for Iaquinta to head just wide. Quagliarella then attempted to lob Buffon from fully 40 yards but unsurprisingly he failed to succeed.
Juve continued to create openings, and Paolo De Ceglie, preferred to Christian Molinaro, beat his man down the left and crossed for Amauri, who didn’t get a good connection on the ball. Iaquinta then had his umpteenth attempts of the half, first firing a 20-yard free kick into the wall, before shooting straight at Handanovic on the follow-up.
For all their pressure, Juve just couldn’t find a way past Handanovic, and the goalkeeper was again impressive on 35 minutes, with a brave save on Iaquinta from close range.
De Ceglie was bombing up-and-down the left flank, and the Italy Under-21 international put another ball into the mixer, which eventually fell to Zdenek Grygera, who lashed horribly over.
In first half injury time, both teams exchanged efforts, with Quagliarella first heading straight at Buffon from Di Natale’s centre, and Iaquinta then heading over down the other end from a similar position.
Second Half
Into the second half, and no guesses as to who had the next effort, as Iaquinta again was presented with an aerial opportunity, but yet again he couldn’t hit the target.
Gaetano D’Agostino sparked a move for Udinese with a delightful long-range pass to Quagliarella. The Italy international then fed Pepe, whose 20-yard shot deflected dangerously wide off De Ceglie.
On 55 minutes, Juventus hit the woodwork for a second time, as Poulsen unleashed an unstoppable 25-yard rocket that crashed off the crossbar with Handanovic completely beaten. Juve fans were now starting to wonder whether it was going to be one of those luckless days for their team.
Nedved had been busy all game, with fitness levels that belied his age, and he burst forward once again to thrash the ball wide from 25 yards. Amauri then had a shot charged down on the edge of the area.
On 65 minutes Grygera squandered another fine Juventus chance as he latched onto Camoranesi’s intelligent chipped pass, but with just Handanovic in front of him, the Czech defender kicked at thin air.
A minute later Juve finally broke the deadlock as Camoranesi and Sissoko combined before the ball eventually fell to Amauri, who slotted the ball into the bottom corner to make it 1-0. Claudio Ranieri could now breathe a sigh of relief.
Juve continued to push forward after the goal, and Sissoko, who had been rock solid in midfield, burst forward and forced a fine save out of Handanovic with a long range piledriver.
It took until the 79th minute for Juve to make their first change as Marco Marchionni replaced Iaquinta. Moments later the disappointing Gokhan Inler tried his luck for Udinese from long range, but his effort was well off target.
With the clock ticking down Ranieri opted to give Del Piero and Trezeguet a quick run-out, taking off Camoranesi and goal-scorer Amauri.
Udinese had not created a chance all night, but on 88 minutes they could have grabbed an unlikely equaliser as substitute Antonio Floro Flores burst through on goal following a Mellberg mistake, but the striker failed to get a shot in under pressure from Chiellini.
Juventus held out though, and despite only scoring the one goal, it had overall been an impressive win for the Bianconeri, who now look forward to Wednesday's big Champions League return against UEFA Cup champions Zenit St Peterburg.
Teams
Juventus: Buffon, Grygera, Mellberg, Chiellini, De Ceglie, Camoranesi (Del Piero 87), Sissoko, Poulsen, Nedved, Iaquinta (Marchionni 79), Amauri (Trezeguet 87)
Udinese: Handanovic, Ferronetti, Coda, Lukovic, Motta (Isla 70), Pasquale, D'Agostino, Inler, Pepe (Floro Flores 74), Quagliarella, Di Natale (Alexis Sanchez 57)
Goals
Amauri 67 (J)
Carlo Garganese
Goal.com
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