Paulo Dybala shines as Juventus beat Lazio
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Updated 04/12/2015 at 23:01 GMT
Serie A, Stadio Olimpico, Rome - Lazio 0 Juventus 2 (Gentiletti og 7, Dybala 32)
Juventus' Paulo Dybala and Mario Mandzukic celebrate after Juventus' first goal.
Image credit: Reuters
Paulo Dybala netted his seventh Serie A goal of the season, as Juventus brushed aside Lazio 2-0 at the Stadio Olimpico.
The match was moved to Friday evening by the Italian football federation to give Juventus extra time to prepare ahead of Tuesday's Champions League match against Sevilla, and the Italian champions will travel to Spain in fine spirits after securing their fifth successive league win with victory over Stefano Pioli's side.
La Vecchia Signora were again inspired by Dybala, who has had a hand in 10 of Juve's 22 league goals so far this season.
The 22-year-old set up Juve's first goal on seven minutes, as Lazio defender Santiago Gentiletti deflected his low cross from the left into his own net, then scored the second himself just after the half-hour mark with a brilliant flick and shot from 35 yards.
Max Allegri's side, who started the season with back-to-back defeats to Udinese and Roma, are finally hitting form and now sit in fifth place in Serie A, four points behind leaders Napoli.
Lazio have lost five of their last six Serie A matches, and the pressure must be increasing on underfire coach Pioli. His mood will not have been improved by the sight of Italy's 2006 World Cup-winning coach Marcello Lippi in the stands at the Stadio Olimpico.
The 67-year-old has publicly declared that he is looking to return to the game, and confirmed a few weeks ago that he was close to taking over at Lazio before signing a contract with Chinese club Guangzhou Evergrande in May 2012.
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Juventus' forward from Croatia Mario Mandzukic (L) vies for the ball with Lazio's forward from Netherlands Ricardo Kishna during the Italian Serie A football match SS Lazio versus Juventus on December 4, 2015 at the Olympic stadium in Rome
Image credit: AFP
KEY MOMENTS
7' – GOAL! Lazio 0-1 Juventus. La Vecchia Signora take the lead through an own goal, as Dybala's drive from the left is touched into his own goal by Gentiletti. Dybala recycled a Sandro cross, and Gentiletti put through his own goal with Mandzukic hovering behind him.
20' – CHANCE! Mauricio makes a good block at the near post from Asamoah, following good work down the left by Alex Sandro.
32' – GOAL!Lazio 0-2 Juventus. Dybala makes it 2-0 for Juve with a brilliant flick up and shot from 30 yards from Mandzukic's short pass. The Juventus fans in the stadium are ecstatic - maybe some questions about Marchetti's positioning but Dybala's shot was instantaneous and into the far corner of his goal.
50' - PENALTY SHOUT! Lazio are furious that referee Banti does not award a penalty for a Barzagli challenge on Radu on the edge of the Juve box.
72' – CHANCE! The ball drops to Keita on the edge of the area, but his shot is drilled straight at the perfectly-positioned Buffon.
86' – CHANCE! Klose is unable to angle an effort at the near post past Buffon..but that was a good opportunity for Lazio.
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Lazio's defender from Romania Stefan Radu reacts during the Italian Serie A football match SS Lazio versus Juventus on December 4, 2015 at the Olympic stadium in Rome.
Image credit: AFP
TALKING POINT – will a change of coach be enough at Lazio?
Pioli looks on his way out at Lazio, but there seems to be a sense of torpor and despair at the club that a simple change of head coach may not arrest. The ultra fans are boycotting the stadium in protest at what they perceive as overbearing restrictions in the ground, while the players look unfocused and confused at how to check a run of five defeats in six Serie A matches.
Even the ultra-professional Miroslav Klose lost his head against Juventus on Friday, with the World Cup record scorer fortunate not to be shown a second yellow card for a scything, angry tackle on Giorgio Chiellini.
MAN OF THE MATCH
Paulo Dybala (Juventus) The Argentine has been the inspiration behind Juve's recent run of good form, and he was a livewire presence against a Lazio defence unable to deal with his speed of thought and his movement in the final third.
Juve signed the 22-year-old from Palermo in June in a €32 million deal as a replacement for his compatriot Carlos Tevez, who returned to Boca Juniors over the summer. However, Dybala more resembles another top Argentina striker, Sergio Aguero, with his link-up play around the area and his eagerness to catch out goalkeepers by shooting early.
PLAYER RATINGS
Lazio: Marchetti 6; Basta 6, Mauricio 6, Gentiletti 5, Radu 5, Biglia 6, Parolo 6, Candreva 6, Milinkovic-Savic 6, Kishna 5, Klose 6. Subs: Keita 7, Anderson 7, Matri 6.
Juventus: Buffon 7, Barzagli 7, Bonucci 7, Chiellini 7, Lichtsteiner 7, Sturaro 6, Marchisio 7, Asamoah 6, Alex Sandro 8, Mandzukic 7, Dybala 9. Subs: Morata 6, Cuadrado 6, Evra 6.
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