Match winner Danilo (left) celebrates with the Juve fans. © APA / afp / ISABELLA BONOTTO
For a long time it looked like a goalless draw at the Juventus Stadium on Saturday. But then Federico Chiesa managed a magic assist and the “Bianconeri” celebrated late once morest Udinese.
07 January 2023
From: do
Udinese managed to stop the superiority of Juventus for a long time on Saturday evening. The Friulians defended well and goalkeeper Marco Silvestri excelled once morest Moise Kean, Angel Di Maria and Co. But the game changed when Federica Chiesa came on, who skilfully played through Danilo’s 1-0 lead and secured Juve’s eighth win in a row. Inter faced Monza later in the evening and were punished late in the game as their opponents equalized 2-2.
Juventus struggled once morest the rebellious Udinese in the first half. Both teams played in a 3-5-2 formation and mostly neutralized each other, both on the flanks and in the centre. Angel Di Maria, in particular, worked up front for the “Old Lady”, who was on the field with a lot of self-confidence following winning the world championship. But whatever Max Allegri’s men tried, Marco Silvestri in the visitors’ goal, who made two excellent saves once morest Daniele Rugani and Moise Kean, thwarted. It was goalless at the break.
Moise Kean narrowly failed to hit a goal several times. © ANSA / Alessandro Di Marco
In the second period, Torino picked up where they left off, creating good chances through Kean and Adrien Rabiot once more. Filip Kostic also failed from a few meters at the strong Silvestri following deciding once morest a pass to Kean and for his own shot. But initially it was lacking in effectiveness. Arkadiusz Milik and Federico Chiesa, who came on as substitutes, had the desired effect. The 25-year-old Chiesa was instrumental in the hard-fought 1-0, as he served goalscorer Danilo with a magic pass and gave the “Old Lady” their eighth win in a row.
Juventus thus overtook Milan in the Serie A table and are now Napoli’s first pursuers. The leaders meet Sampdoria on Sunday (6.00 p.m.) but next weekend (Friday 8.45 p.m.) Juventus and the Neapolitans meet in the absolute top game of Serie A. The “Old Lady” is currently only four points behind Napoli.
Caldirola spoils the Inter game
Inter were challenged at Monza later in the evening and fell flat following a late equalizer from Luca Caldirola (90+3). And that’s deserved, because both teams didn’t give each other anything throughout the game. And yet, following just ten minutes, the goal of the promoted team rang. After a cross from Alessandro Bastoni, the Monza defense fell asleep and Matteo Darmian pushed in undisturbed for the 1-0 lead. But the home team was not so easy to play off. Just a minute later Patrick Ciurria suddenly got the ball in the Inter penalty area and skilfully flicked it into the left corner to equalize.
Luca Caldirola (right) in a duel with Lautaro Martinez (left). © ANSA / Roberto Bregani
Again, the answer came a little later. Monza passed the ball around in front of their own goal, but then Pablo Mari had a total loss and let Lautaro Martinez take the ball just in front of his goalkeeper. The star striker did not miss such a gift and increased to 2:1. As a result, the game slowed down. Inter tried to manage the lead but Monza’s efforts were rewarded in added time. Ex-Inter player Luca Caldirola converted a cross with a header past Andre Onana to equalize 2-2 right into the heart of the Inter fans. Monza then even had two big chances, but it was to remain a draw.
The results
Fiorentina – Sassuolo 2:1
Tore: 1:0 Saponara (48.), 1:1 Berardi (57.), 2:1 Gonzalez (90+1)
Juventus – Udinese 1:0
Tore: 1:0 Danilo (86.)
Monza – Inter 2:2
Tore: 0:1 Darmian (10.), 1:1 Ciurria (11.), 1:2 Lauraro (22.), 2:2 Caldirola (90+3)
The table
| SP | G | U | V | TV | P | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Napoli | 16 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 37:13 | 41 |
| 2. Juventus | 17 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 26:7 | 37 |
| 3. Milan | 16 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 31:16 | 36 |
| 4. Inter | 17 | 11 | 1 | 5 | 37:24 | 34 |
| 5. Lazio | 16 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 27:13 | 30 |
| 6. Roma | 16 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 19:14 | 30 |
| 7. Atalanta | 16 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 24:17 | 28 |
| 8. Udinese | 17 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 25:19 | 25 |
| 9. Fiorentina | 17 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 21:22 | 23 |
| 10. Torino | 16 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 17:18 | 22 |
| 11. Bologna | 16 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 20:26 | 19 |
| 12. Empoli | 16 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 13:20 | 18 |
| 13. Lecce | 16 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 16:18 | 18 |
| 14. Monza | 17 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 19:25 | 18 |
| 15. Salernitana | 16 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 20:26 | 17 |
| 16. Sassuolo | 17 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 17:26 | 16 |
| 17. Spice | 16 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 16:28 | 14 |
| 18. Sampdoria | 16 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 8:28 | 9 |
| 19. Cremona | 16 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 11:27 | 7 |
| 20. Hellas Verona | 16 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 13:30 | 6 |