Juventus Turin won their eighth consecutive win against Udinese (1-0) on Saturday without conceding a goal, momentarily taking second place in Serie A, four points behind Napoli, leaders that the bianconeri will challenge next Friday.
In a match preceded by a moving tribute to the former Juventus player Gianluca Vialli, overwhelmed by pancreatic cancer, the Turin players were able to be patient, like on Wednesday against Cremonese (1-0): the release came in the 86th minute, thanks to Captain Danilo at the end of a nice combination between Leandro Paredes and Federico Chiesa.
With this eighth success in a row, still without conceding a goal, Juve settles for at least 24 hours in second place with a one point advantage over Milan (3rd), who host Roma on Sunday evening (6th), and three over Inter Milan (4th), who lost two points in added time at Monza (2-2), on matchday 17 of Serie A.
The Turinese, who fell behind at the start of the season, are back mainly just four points behind Napoli, who will try to react on Sunday in Genoa against Sampdoria after suffering their first defeat of the season in the league on Wednesday.
And this before the direct duel between the Neapolitans and the Turinese next Friday: “It will be a good match, but let’s take it one step at a time. Napoli are still a clear favorite for the Scudetto,” Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri told DAZN.
“We have to keep working in silence because we started late,” he added, ensuring the goal remained a top four finish synonymous with the Champions League.
“Hello Captain”
The victory against Udinese was preceded by a moving tribute to Gianluca Vialli. Son ex-coéquipier Gianluca Pessotto a notamment pris la parole pour saluer sa «classe» et sa «ténacité», avant de conclure sous les applaudissements du Juventus Stadium empli de banderoles et de maillots à la mémoire à Vialli: «Ciao capitaine, fais un good trip”.
“After this victory, our first thought goes to Gianluca Vialli”, confirmed Chiesa, decisive man of the match thanks to his decisive pass after a good control in the box.
Inter lose two points
In the evening, Inter did not keep up with Juve, conceding a last-gasp draw in Monza three days after being the first Italian team to defeat Napoli this season (1-0).
The Nerazzurri were blocked by a header from Monza defender Luca Caldirola (90+3°), deflected off a pass by Denzel Dumfries. Caldirola thus compensates for the big mistake of his central defense colleague, Pablo Mari, who had allowed Lautaro Martinez to give back the lead to Inter in the first half (22′).
At the start of the match, Monza had already shown their strength of character by immediately equalizing on a nice cross shot by Patrick Ciurria (11th) after the quick lead by the Nerazzurri, signed by Matteo Darmian (10th).
Inter could regret not being able to make a counterattack, despite Romelu Lukaku coming into play in the second half and a shot on the post by Argentine world champion Martinez, sharp for his first stay from Qatar.
