Juventus succesfully widen the point margin with one of their close title rival, Udinese, after beating Francesco Guidolin’s side 2-1, in the direct clash on Saturday evening, which saw the Turin giant gather a six points lead.
Antonio Conte’s team must be thanking their Italian international striker, Alessandro Matri, who bagged all of the “Old Lady” goals on the match, edging the game as the visitor only managed to pull one back from Antonio Floro Flores’ strike.
Playing in a heavy snow, Juventus didn’t stop their usual game plan in providing a high pressure to search for a first goal, which would give them comfort on the pitch. However, it wasn’t that easy in breaking down Guidolin’s boys, who despite losing several important players for the African Cup still manage to perform bravely against the yet to be beaten league leader.
After series of intense pressure, Juventus finally managed to brake the away team’s resistence as Matri pounced on Fabio Quagliarella blocked header, beating Samir Handanovic on Udinese’s goal without much trouble. The 1-0 scoreline closed the first period, forcing the visitor to change their game plan a bit in the second half by putting in Floro Flores as they were chasing the game and eying for the equalizer.
Guidolin’s offensive strategy worked out well early in the second period as it was the substitue forward, Flor Flores , who got the highly anticipated equalizer after recieving a fine pass from Mauricio Isla. The goal lifted Udinese’s confidence as they started to take the attacking inniative more than the home side, looking for the second goal that would give a rare victory against the current league leader.
However, it was Juventus instead who proved their worth once again after Matri managed to snooke his shot passed Handanovic for the second time in the match. The goal made things became difficult again for the visitor as they have to chase ball around since the Turin giant decided to keep hold of the ball longer, only making occasional attacking moves as Conte’s team doesn’t want to lose their lead again.
The Turin giant’s tactics worked out well as their opponent simply got tired out in the last few minutes since they don’t really have more quality substitutes players with their limited resources. Juventus extended their unbeaten record this season an obviously mantained their lead in the table for another Serie A week since whatever happens on Sunday, Juventus would still maintain at least a point lead from their closest rival.
Match Reports:
Juventus v Udinese 2-1
Goals: Matri 42, 62 (Juventus); Floro Flores 56 (Udinese)
Juventus: Buffon; Bonucci, Barzagli, Chiellini; Lichtsteiner (De Ceglie 82), Vidal, Pirlo, Giaccherini, Estigarribia (Pepe 64); Matri, Quagliarella (Marchisio 61)
Udinese: Handanovic; Ferronetti, Danilo, Domizzi (Battocchio 73); Basta, Isla (Pereyra 85), Fernandes, Armero, Pasquale; Abdi (Floro Flores 46), Di Natale
photo credit: _bianconero