Midweek madness!!

Milan were on top for one day before being dethroned by a much healthier Juve side. To be fair to Milan, they were without key players, so much so that they drafted in 19 year-old Mattia De Sciglio, who in his defence didn't do bad considering he was thrown into the big leagues head first!
The match on Tuesday saw a Milan side concede over 50% possession against a Chievo side that showed no fear, they were just lacking that finishing touch as they had 13 shots but only 2 were on goal and only 1 forced Cristian Abbiati to make a save. However they did get the ball in the back of the net, but Alberto Paloschi was offside, Chievo were caught offside 6 times, showing that they wanted to score so badly that they ran too early. Yet it was Milan who got the goal early in the first half from a thunderbolt of a shot by Sulley Muntari- showing that things are better in the red half of Milan.

This then meant that Juve had to win if they had any illusions of getting their hands on the title. One could say Juventus had the harder game as they entertained a Lazio side that convincingly beat Napoli 3-1. But anything could have happened, one thing for sure is that Antonio Conte would prefer to remain unbeaten. Juve controlled this game with over 70% possesion, and playing with the high intensity that has become synonymous with Conte's style, a goal was going to come from somewhere and it almost came for the home side, yet Simone Pepe's shot was off target, but he later redeemed himself when he got on the end off an Andrea Pirlo pass and rather acrobatically thumped it in the net. Juve were on a mission: to regain top spot, the game went on in obvious Juve fashion but then, out of nowhere Lazio go the ball and Stefano Mauri grabbed the equaliser just before half time. The second half was not as free flowing as the first half, it was beginning to dawn on them that this could be another draw. Juve maintained their dominance, but they were also looking a little tense, and that could only lead to rash tackles, shirt pulling during corner kicks ( Chiellini!) and yellow cards. Stephen Litchsteiner, Giorgio Chiellini and Fabio Quagliarella all got themselves booked.
They had no need to fret as Alessandro Del Piero came in on 73 minutes to make his 700 appearance in a Juventus jersey- not an easy feat! He marked this milestone with a magnificent and incredibly important goal on the 82nd minute. Lazio were still fighting on, as I'm sure they know that Juve have become somewhat of a draw specialist, but maybe a little too hard to the refeere's liking as Libor Kozak was sent off for an altercation with Leonardo Bonucci. But we can see as the viewers that this was never a sending off as Bonucci just headbutted Kozak and there was no intent shown from the Lazio man, it was purely accidental.

Juve may have returned back to top spot but I for one would like it if they would tone down on the embellishment, it reflects poorly on the game and is not an attribute that should be encouraged in champions!