JUAN-TWO FOR JUVE
Cuadrado keeps Champions League fire burning for Pirlo
JUAN CUADRADO’S double helped Juventus keep their Champions League qualification hopes alive with a “Derby of Italy” win over the Serie A champions.
Despite spending most of the second half with 10 men, the result lifted Andrea Pirlo’s side into fourth place with one game remaining.
Napoli will knock the Turin club back into fifth if they beat Fiorentina today.
But Juve at least gave themselves a fighting chance of playing in next season’s premier cup competition – thanks to ex-Chelsea winger Cuadrado’s late penalty. Juve boss Pirlo said: “Many times in the dressing room we have wondered what was missing.
“There was not the same fire as in the other years, the flame went out a bit.
“But we had to light it again to fight and Cuadrado showed this.
“It’s my fault and everyone’s that we are battling for fourth place.
“If we had always had the same determination and desire to fight for every ball in other games this season we would not find ourselves now playing for this place in the league on the last day.”
Inter Milan ended Juve’s nineyear stranglehold of the Italian domestic title with four games to spare and had the chance to land a huge blow to their rivals’ top-four hopes.
But in a game dominated by VAR decisions, Juve ran out winners.
Both sides were awarded firsthalf penalties when, after Giorgio Chiellini was wrestled to the ground at a corner, Cristiano Ronaldo scored on the rebound to put Juve ahead.
Inter drew level when Matthijs
De Ligt was judged to have fouled Lautaro Martinez in the box after another VAR review and Romelu Lukaku converted the resulting penalty.
Juve edged back in front deep in first-half injury-time when a powerful Cuadrado shot took a deflection and flew past Samir Handanovic.
But the hosts were reduced to 10 men early in the second half when Rodrigo Bentancur picked up a second yellow.
Pirlo took Ronaldo off for the final quarter of the match in a bid to see out the game.
It looked to have backfired as Inter drew level through a Chiellini own-goal – only for Cuadrado to respond with the winning penalty in the 88th minute after the Colombian was tripped by Ivan Perisic.
There was still time for Marcelo Brozovic to be sent off for the visitors for a second booking.
Cuadrado said: “It was a difficult game against a great team like Inter.
“Even with a man down, we had to get the job done, make sacrifices, and I think that we got the result as a team.”
Kumbulla. Four minutes later, Roma’s opening goal arrived when Mkhitaryan fired home to put the home side in front.
They took great confidence from that and began to ask some serious questions of the Lazio defence.
Roma had further chances to stretch their lead but they were spurned. Dzeko rifled wide from Bryan Cristante’s cross and Mkhitaryan then saw a shot from the outside the box blocked.
Lazio went desperately close when Ciro Immobile struck a right-footed shot that was saved as the hosts began to defend doggedly.
Having survived the second-half pressure, Roma claimed a second goal which clinched victory in the 78th minute as Pedro fired home left-footed from Cristante’s pass, before Lazio’s Francesco Acerbi saw red late on following the defender’s second booking of the night.