Juventus 1-0 Udinese: Match Ratings

Juventus left it late again, but captain Danilo made sure the three points would stay in Turin. The Bianconeri have now won their last 8 matches in Serie A and have kept a clean sheet in all of those.

The first big chance of the match was for Udinese. Beto was found at the second post, he beat Miretti in the air and headed the ball towards Szczesny. The Polish goalkeeper was alert and punched the ball away from the goal.

One minute later, the other goalkeeper had to react. Rugani put his head to a Di Maria cross, but Silvestri made an excellent save to keep it 0-0. Juventus grew a little more into the match in the latter stages of the first half, and Di Maria put Kean one-on-one with Silvestri, but the Udinese goalkeeper once again denied Juventus the 1-0.

Inching closer

Silvestri proved difficult to beat in the second half as well. Locatelli sent Kostić towards the Udinese goal ten minutes after the break, but Silvestri was quick off his line and blocked his shot. A couple minutes later, Rabiot effort went wide after a good combination with Kostić.

Five minutes before the end, Juventus finally broke the deadlock. Substitute Paredes made a beautiful pass towards Chiesa (another sub), who controlled it and spotted Danilo in the box. The Brazilian made no mistake from close by and made it 1-0 for the Bianconeri. How fitting that on the night where Juventus honour capitano Gianluca Vialli, the current captain Danilo scores.

Juventus are now second in the league, because Milan are yet to play tomorrow evening. Allegri’s men do what they have to do before facing Napoli on Friday at the Maradona, a match of which the importance doesn’t have to be explained.

Player Ratings

Szczesny (7); Alex Sandro (7), Danilo (7), Rugani (6); McKennie (6), Locatelli (5), Miretti (6.5), Rabiot (7), Kostić (6); Di Maria (6.5), Kean (6).

Substitutes: Chiesa (7), Paredes (6.5), Milik (5.5), Fagioli (6), Soulé (6).