Juventus V Udinese- the sequel

On a snowy evening in Turin Juventus still manage to grab a victory! Juve had to get a win to insure a little breathing space from Milan, who, at the start of the game were only a point behind. The Old Lady was without some regular players and had Marcelo Estigarribia and Emmanuel Giaccherini from the start. And they both worked extremely hard to help warrant their inclusion. The South American was a huge factor in the opening goal when he was able to put in a great cross which Fabio Quagliarella got a head on to it that sent it towards goal, and Alessandro Matri was the quickest to react when Samir Handanovic knocked it away only for Matri to knock it into the back of the net just 3 minutes before half-time.

Juve bossed this game and had over 60% possession with Udinese making sporadic attacks but lacking that spark. However, that spark did come in the 56th minute courtesy of Antonio Flora Flores, all credit goes to Guidolin as it was his second half substitute who got Udinese back into the game.

What I did start to notice in Juventus' game that did begin to disturb me, the player were showing the imaginary card more, especially when things weren't going their way- come on guys, you're no Inter! Throughout the game Juve had more shots with 23 compared to Udinese's 11, but only 5 were on target. They really need to work on this, because with the 2 Milan clubs getting stronger and stronger, their margin for error is quickly decreasing. After Udinese equalised I did begin to see a little panic kick in with the home team and it could have rather easily cost them. Yet Juve showed great strength of character and determination to get a second, and it was that man again, Matri, who was helped by the flick by second half substitute; Claudio Marchisio.

This was a game not helped by the elements, as the snow had made some tackle look worse than they were and players were falling to the ground more often. Yet we got the vital 3 points and possibly gave Gianluigi Buffon the best birthday present, 20 games and still unbeaten- Grazie Antonio Conte!