Magician’s touch

2022-23 Season

Game 29

April 8, 2023

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Stadio Olimpico, Rome

Lazio Juventus 2-1

A wonderful back heel pass from Luis Alberto gives Lazio a priceless win

The team

Maurizio Sarri decided to keep Danilo Cataldi in place of Matias Vecino and to put Ciro Immobile in the centre of the attack for the first time since his return from injury. A difficult match, this season Lazio had already lost against Juventus both in Serie A and in Coppa Italia.

The match

Lazio started off well with quite a number of corners in the first few minutes. The Biancocelesti attacked trying to find a gap in Juve’s defence, but Juventus had similar problems when they attacked so the match was intense, lots of passes, but not a lot happened.

In the 5th minute Luis Alberto tried a shot from outside the box but Wojciech Szcesny saved comfortably. In the 10th and 12th minute Sergej Milinkovic-Savic had a couple of half chances but he headed both of them over the crossbar. Juventus resorted to deliberate handballs to stop the Lazio attacks, none of them booked.

In the 29th minute Felipe Anderson sent a high pass in the box for Immobile who, despite being covered by Alex Sandro, managed to acrobatically kick the ball towards the goal, Szczęsny saved.

In the 38th minute Mattia Zaccagni on the left wing moved slightly central and crossed into the box where Milinkovic-Savic placed a hand on Alex Sandro's back and the Brazilian then dived forward as if hit by a running train. The big Serb controlled the ball and scored. The referee and VAR said it was legitimate hence Lazio 1 Juve 0.

Juventus reacted immediately and had a corner. From the Angel De Maria perfect cross, Bremer headed the ball, Ivan Provedel saved, Adrien Rabiot tried the tap in but Provedel saved again. There was nothing the Lazio goalkeeper could do on the third attempt and Rabiot equalised.

At the end of the first half there was a very dangerous tackle by Manuel Locatelli on Milinkovic-Savic. The Juve player was booked, but it should have been a red card. Juan Cuadrado should have been sent off after ten minutes for two bookable offences but had yet to be shown the yellow card.

Juventus started the second half a little more aggressively compared to the first but Lazio still had the majority of possession. Cuadrado finally got booked in the 51st minute.

Two minutes later, Milinkovic-Savic to Felipe Anderson. Felipetto raced down the right wing and in the meantime, Luis Alberto did everything he could to attract the Brazilian’s attention since he was completely unmarked in the middle. Felipe looked as if he had not seen the Spaniard but as soon as he could he sent a low cross directly to Luis Alberto in the centre of the box. When the ball arrived, the Magician back heeled it to Zaccagni who put it past Szczęsny for Lazio’s second goal. Brilliant intuition. Apparently, they had tried this in training the day before.

Juventus considerably increased the pressure on the Lazio defence which pulled back and waited for the Bianconeri. In the 62nd minute Dusan Vlahovic headed the ball over the bar from an Alex Sandro cross.

First substitutions in the 63rd minute for Juventus. In came Leandro Paredes, Arkadiusz Milik and Federico Chiesa for Locatelli, Vlahovic and Filip Kostic. Shortly after, out went Ciro Immobile and Cataldi, in came Vecino and Pedro. In the 71st minute Danilo substituted Cuadrado.

The pressure continued but the Lazio defence, not without difficulty, held. In the 84th minute the biggest chance for Juve. Chiesa went down the Lazio right wing like a hot knife through butter and crossed towards the centre of the box, Nicolò Fagioli volleyed the ball over the bar.

Two last substitutions just before the end: Toma Basic in for Zaccagni and Fabio Miretti for Fagioli.

Lazio survived the final minutes and won the game. They had now beaten Napoli, Milan, Inter, Roma (twice), Atalanta, Bologna, Fiorentina and Juventus at least once each, the top 9 in Serie A. Second place confirmed, third was now five points behind.

Who played for Lazio

Provedel; Marusic, Casale, Romagnoli, Hysaj; Milinkovic-Savic, Cataldi (69' Vecino), Luis Alberto; Felipe Anderson, Immobile (64' Pedro), Zaccagni (84' Basic)

Substitutes: Maximiano, Adamonis, Pellegrini, Patric, Marcos Antonio, Cancellieri, Romero, Radu, Lazzari, Gila, Fares

Manager: Sarri

Who played for Juventus

Szczesny; Gatti, Bremer, Alex Sandro; Cuadrado (69' Danilo), Fagioli (86' Miretti), Locatelli (63' Parades), Rabiot, Kostic (63' Chiesa); Di Maria, Vlahovic (63' Milik).

Substitutes: Perin, Pinsoglio, Bonucci, Rugani, Soulè.

Manager: Allegri (Marco Landucci was on the bench since Allegri was out with flu).

Referee: Di Bello

Goals: 38' Milinkovic-Savic, 42' Rabiot, 54' Zaccagni.

Bookings: Alex Sandro, Locatelli, Cuadrado, Provedel, Milinkovic-Savic, Miretti.