Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Udinese - Juventus 2-1
Fabio Quagliarella and Antonio Di Natale bagged the goals as Udinese put a huge dent in Juventus' Scudetto dreams at the Stadio Friuli.
Juventus were continuing to chase leaders Inter hard at the top of the table, and were three points behind the Nerazzurri ahead of the trip to Udine. The Old Lady were still crippled by injuries, with Andrade, Zebina, Knezevic, Camoranesi, Salihamidzic, Manninger, Tiago, and now Del Piero and Zanetti all sidelined.
However, there was good news as David Trezeguet and Vincenzo Iaquinta made the bench after long spells out. Momo Sissoko returned from suspension in midfield, while Sebastian Giovinco partnered Amauri in attack.
Udinese had picked up just two points from their last 10 league games. Pasquale Marino had virtually a clean bill of health, although Aleksandar Lukovic was banned, and star man Antonio Di Natale was blooded from the start.
First Half
Udinese attacked right from the start, dominating possession in the early stages. On 13 minutes, they could have taken the lead as Gianluigi Buffon was lucky to see his punch that struck Cristian Zapata fall to team-mate Cristian Molinaro.
It took until the quarter-hour mark for Juve to have their first attempt of the game, as Giovinco lashed the ball over from 25 yards.
Udinese continued to dominate and they took a deserved lead on 19 minutes. Di Natale kept the ball in down the left, squared to Quagliarella, who turned Legrottaglie and fired past Buffon.
Juve tried to react, and created their first real opening as Giovinco passed to Amauri, who dragged his shot wide from 20 yards.
Di Natale continued to wreak havoc though, and he cut in from the left and hit a deflected effort wide.
Juventus started to improve after the half-hour mark, but they created very little, and three minutes before the break they should have been 2-0 down. Isla was put clean through on goal by Gaetano D'Agostino, but Buffon came to Juve's rescue with a great save.
Second Half
Claudio Ranieri knew he needed to make a change at the break, and he introduced Iaquinta at half time for the disappointing Marchionni.
The pattern of the game continued in the second half, and Udinese missed three fine chances in the first five minutes, with Isla, Di Natale and Quagliarella the guilty parties. Di Natale in particular wasted a great opening.
Juventus had a good opening down the other end, but Iaquinta could not keep his header down after rising above Andrea Coda. Amauri also turned smartly on the edge of the box, but he shot straight at Handanovic.
Udinese sat back for most of the second half, and looked to hit Juve on the counter-attack, and it worked perfectly on 73 minutes, as they doubled their lead. Di Natale was released down the left, and he cut inside and curled a brilliant shot into the top corner of the net. It was a magical strike.
The game seemed over, but just minutes later Juve were handed a lifeline as Pasquale tripped Grygera in the box. The referee pointed to the spot, and Iaquinta sent Handanovic the wrong way to make it 1-2.
Trezeguet made his long-awaited return with 10 minutes remaining, as Juve threw more and more men forward in search of an equaliser.
However they barely created another chance and indeed Asamoah could have bagged a third for the home side, had he not over-run the ball.
Udinese end their dreadful run of results, and in the process put a huge dent in Juventus' title bid. The Old Lady are now six points behind leaders Inter, who won at Catania this evening.
Teams
Udinese: Handanovic, Zapata, Coda, Domizzi, Pasquale, Isla, Inler, D'Agostino, Asamoah, Quagliarella (Floro Flores 85), Di Natale (Pepe 80)
Juventus: Buffon, Grygera, Mellberg, Legrottaglie, Molinaro, Marchionni (Iaquinta 46), Marchisio, Sissoko (Poulsen 82), Nedved, Amauri (Trezeguet 80), Giovinco
Goals
Quagliarella 19 (U)
Di Natale 73 (U)
Iaquinta 76 pen (J)
Anthony Sormani
Goal.com
PICTURES
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