Juventus vs Lazio Review
Mario Gila’s late own goal earned Juventus a 1-0 victory over Lazio at the Allianz Stadium, helping them maintain their unbeaten record in the Serie A season. The home team had been solid defensively, allowing only one goal in their first seven matches. However, before the match, Lazio had scored 14 league goals, trailing only Inter Milan and Atalanta, indicating that they would pose a significant challenge to Juventus’ defense.
In the first half, Juventus managed to handle Lazio well, despite having difficulty creating clear scoring opportunities, with only a few inaccurate attempts from Federico Gatti and Dušan Vlahović. The most significant moment of the first half occurred midway through when Pierre Kalulu was approaching the goal. Alessio Romagnoli seemed to clip him at the edge of the box, and although referee Juan Luca Sacchi initially let the game continue, he later halted play after being alerted by VAR. After reviewing the incident on the pitchside monitor, he sent off the Lazio defender, giving Juventus a numerical advantage for the majority of the match.
In the second half, Juventus became more aggressive offensively and had two major opportunities to score around the 60-minute mark. First, Vlahović struck the crossbar from close range, and then Douglas Luiz missed a header from Timothy Weah’s unmarked cross in the penalty area. As the half went on, Lazio struggled to advance and relieve the mounting pressure, but they remained defensively solid and organized.
In the end, Juventus needed a bit of luck to score the first goal. Juan Cabal delivered a cross into a perilous spot, but it was Gila who inadvertently redirected it into his own goal. Lazio attempted to generate some offense and salvage a point, but their one-player disadvantage proved significant as they fell short. This outcome allows Thiago Motta’s team to share the top position in the standings, although Napoli still has a match to play this weekend, while Lazio remains in fifth place, three points behind.