Toto not enough as Udine fall.

Juventus V Udinese




On a freezing cold evening in Turin the real Juventus showed up, and what a show they put on. After only collecting a point in their last 2 games of the New Year a victory was absolutely necessary. The New Year had seen Lazio and Napoli climb within 2 points of the Bianconeri, it had started to look as though this was Juve’s title to lose.

Lazio had been held to a draw earlier in the day and this was the perfect opportunity to get back to winning ways and to put significant space between them and the chasing pack. The Old Lady had obviously been thinking the same thing as Juve came out aggressively and had their first attack within 20 minutes. Arturo Vidal had his rocket of a shot tipped over the crossbar while Emanuele Giacchirini was denied by the keepers’ legs.

The plaudits may well go the young Frenchmen, Paul Pogba that opened the scoring on the 41st minute with a tremendous shot from 35 yards out, but Giacchirini shouldn’t be overlooked especially by Antonio Conte, Because the little man ran himself into the ground trying again and again to create opportunities.

Juve were without key figures like; Giorgio Chiellini, Claudio Marchisio and Andrea Pirlo, these players had become almost a permanent fixture in the starting line up, this could also be why they are injured, because Conte doesn’t rotate these players as much, they are more vulnerable to injuries. Hopefully this performance will show the Coach that there are a few other names that can be called upon.

After Udinese had conceded the goal, it was as though they had woken up, yet they didn’t have the quality upfront to cause any real damage, and Gianluigi Buffon only had to make 2 saves throughout the entire match. Even when their talisman Antonio Di Natale came on in the 51st minute, there was little he could do to affect the game.

Pogba, on the other hand was beaming with confidence and thought he would give it another go, and in the 66th minute from a long way out, he struck again, and it was an equally amazing goal but more importantly it helped secure the win, as we know from the game against Parma, you can’t rest on your laurels just because you’re up by one goal.

Mirku Vucinic helped to secure the three points on the 72nd minute, his goal was more pecuiliar as it seemed to bounce in, but that’s what we come to expect from him. And to add icing to the cake Alessandro Matri got a goal on the 80th minute, which he in no doubt enjoyed as he had been struggling to find the back of the net recently.

It ended 4-0, yet there was a sight at the 78th minute when Vidal limped off to be replace by Simone Padoin. What this display showed to the rest of Serie A, was that Juve are in no mood to give up their title without a fight. With the Coppa Italia game against Lazio on Tuesday, let’s hope that the same spirit of determination shows up!

FORZA JUVENTUS!!