In one of the great games left on matchday 26 of the 2020-21 Serie A, Juventus hosted Lazio at home. The good news from the local team came with the return of Juan Guillermo Cuadrado, who was absent several duels due to an injury, and the substitution of Cristiano Ronaldo.
To the surprise of many, things started really badly for Andrea Pirlo’s. At 14 minutes and after a foul by Dejan Kulusevski, Joaquín Correa scored the first goal of the game with a left foot that drove the rival goalkeeper away.
The team from the Italian capital came out completely enthusiastic and canceled Juve at times. In this sense, the attempts were continued by Luis Alberto and Sergej Milinković-Savić, both from the middle distance.
Pirlo was completely lost, he did not know what orders to give and this was reflected in his group. Split plays, zero generation, poor pass effectiveness … All bad.
It was so bad that Juventus ‘first clear shot came after half an hour into the match (32’), when Aaron Ramsey tried his luck with a far right hand that passed the rival goal.
Little by little, although very late by the way, the owner of the house turned the land in his favor until he won a prize. At minute 39, Álvaro Morata received in three-quarters of the court, turned and sent a depth pass to Rabiot. The Frenchman gained speed on the left and when everyone thought he would send a cross into the area, he unleashed a powerful left-footed shot that fired into goalkeeper Pepe Reina’s short post. Golazo.
And in the latter half of the first half, Mohamed Salim Fares was on the verge of giving the visitors an advantage again with a left shot that nearly slid into Wojciech Szczęsny’s goal.
As happened at the start of the match, Lazio had the clearest. Luis Alberto sent a cross from the right, Milinković-Savić anticipated his opponent and almost scored the second with a header. The ball eventually crashed off the crossbar.
Pirlo’s responded quickly, but the difference is that they were completely powerful by the hand of Morata. At minute 57 ‘, Federico Chiesa stole a ball from the rival’s exit and sent a deep pass that the Spanish striker did not waste.
And two minutes later, the ex-Real Madrid signed his double from the penalty spot after a controversial foul by Milinković-Savić on Ramsey.
With the mission accomplished, at least the Juventine team switched chips. At 69 ‘, Juan Guillermo Cuadrado retired from an excellent match, the great figure, Morata and Ramsey; in their place were Weston McKennie, Arthur and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The next important approach was for the visit, it took almost 25 minutes to generate danger again. Taking advantage of a loss in CR7, Ciro Inmobile landed a right hand close to the post, but Szczęsny saved. Later Correa tried without success. There was no way to get the discount.
At minute 81, the Ecuadorian Felipe Caicedo entered the visit. With this, coach Inzaghi tried to participate in the attack on the pair of South Americans that managed to shine at the time.
The party, practically condemned, became emotional. Juventus relied on quick counter-attacks to generate scoring action, while Lazio did what they could with more heart than football. In the end, everything would be in an important win for Bianconera 3-1 in the return of Juan Guillermo Cuadrado.