Udinese vs Juventus; Italian Serie A
Udinese vs Juventus. Italian Serie A.
Dacia Arena.
Udinese 2-1 Juventus: Maurizio Sarri's side made to wait for Serie A title after shock loss
The Serie A side have only won one of their last five games as they chase another league title
Thursday 23 July 2020 21:31, UK
Juventus must wait to claim a ninth successive Serie A title after they slumped to a shock 2-1 defeat at Udinese with Seko Fofana scoring a stoppage-time winner.
Needing a victory to wrap up the title, Juventus produced another strangely subdued performance but went ahead with a long-range shot by defender Matthijs de Ligt three minutes before half-time.
However, Ilija Nestorovski's diving header and Fofana's superb individual effort stunned Juventus on a stifling evening.
Juventus, who have won only one of their last five games and have dropped 18 points from winning positions this season, stay on 80 points followed by Atalanta with 74 and Inter Milan on 73 with three games each to play. The win took Udinese up to 15th place on 39 points, seven points clear of the relegation zone.
Juventus had a lucky escape early in the game when Danilo headed Ken Sema's cross against the post while Udinese's Bram Nuytinck was also spared embarrassment when his back pass almost trickled into the net but goalkeeper Juan Musso pushed it wide just in time.
Musso also did well to turn away a Paulo Dybala shot and Cristiano Ronaldo was close from long range before Juve broke the deadlock three minutes before half time.
A Udinese clearance landed at the feet of De Ligt and the Dutchman took one touch and drove a low shot into the net from 25 metres.
However, Udinese found a deserved equaliser seven minutes after the restart. Sema swung a cross over to the far post where Nestorovski met it with a diving header which flew into the net.
Udinese then defended doggedly before snatching the winner on the break through Fofana. The Ivorian collected a loose ball on the halfway line, charged forward, nutmegged De Ligt and slotted his shot under goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny to give his side a vital and memorable win.