Lazio rally to beat Juve
Turin, Dec. 8: Italian champions Juventus suffered their first defeat of the season Saturday with a 3-1 loss against Lazio in Rome blowing open the Serie ‘A’ title race.
Maurizio Sarri’s eighttime reigning league champions remain second in the table, two points behind leaders Inter Milan after
15 matches. Thirdplaced Lazio clawed to within just three points of Juventus after their first win at home against the Turin giants since December 2003.
Cristiano Ronaldo put Juventus ahead at the Stadio Olimpico when he picked up a Rodrigo Bentancur cross to tap in after 25 minutes.
But Luiz Felipe hit back for the Romans in front of
60,000 fans, nodding in just before the break.
Juan Cuadrado’s sending off for a foul on Manuel Lazzari after 69 minutes proved to be the turning point.
Lazio took control as Sergej Milinkovic-Savic connected with a Luis Alberto assist to fire in a stunning goal.
Felipe Caicedo snatched the third goal five minutes into injury time as Lazio earned their seventh straight win, fuelling ambitions of challenging for a first Serie ‘A’ title since 2000.
NAPOLI’S WINLESS RUN CONTINUES
Carlo Ancelotti ruled out resigning from his position as last year’s Serie ‘A’ runners-up Napoli saw their winless run reach seven games with a 1-1 draw at struggling Udinese.
Kevin Lasagna scored for Udinese after 32 minutes, picking up a Seko Fofana cross after the Ivorian beat defender Kalidou Koulibaly, to beat Alex Meret in the Napoli goal. But Piotr Zielinski pulled the visitors level after 69 minutes as Napoli held on for just their fifth point in their last seven games. —