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SERIE A: ALVARO MORATA BRACE HELP JUVENTUS IN COME BACK WIN AGAINST LAZIO

Alvaro Morata scored twice and set up another as Juventus warmed up for next week’s Champions League game against Porto with a 3-1 comeback win over Lazio on Saturday to close the gap on the Milan teams in Serie A.

Cristiano Ronaldo started on the bench before next week’s key last 16, second leg game against the Portuguese in Turin with Juventus trailing 2-1.

Champions Juventus fell behind to an early Joaquin Correa goal following a Dejan Kulusevski passing error midfield.

But Morata set up Adrien Rabiot to pull the hosts level before the break with the Spaniard scoring twice in a three-minute spell before the hour mark.

Andrea Pirlo’s side are third, seven points behind leaders Inter who host Atalanta on Monday, and one point adrift of AC Milan who play Hellas Verona on Sunday.

“Today we started the game 20 minutes late but it was normal because many were out of position and many returned (from injury),” said Pirlo.

“But there was a great reaction, we didn’t get down and despite the many absences we played an excellent match.

“For us it was a final, an important match for the standings and we’re happy.”

Paulo Dybala remains out injured along with defender Giorgio Chiellini and midfielder Matthijs de Ligt, while Rodrigo Bentancur positive for coronavirus .

But Juan Cuadrado started after missing three league games with Arthur and Leonardo Bonucci also returning off the bench in the second half.

Morata started up front alongside Kulusevski, with Ciro Immobile leading the Lazio attack alongside Correa.

And the Argentine pounced after quarter of an hour after Kulusevski gave the ball away, shaking off Merih Demiral to beat Wojciech Szczęsny in the Juventus goal.

Szczesny denied Luis Alberto a second eight minutes later.

Rabiot pulled a goal back six minutes before the break, picking up a Morata through ball to fire in a powerful left footed angled drive over Pepe Reina.

Both sides had chances after the break with Reina denying Federico Chiesa, Szczesny clearing from Correa and a Sergej Milinkovic-Savic header rattling the bar.

Chiesa set up Morata for the second after 57 minutes with the Spaniard completing a brace from the penalty spot three minutes later after Milinkovic-Savic brought down Aaron Ramsey in the box.

Morata made way for Ronaldo for the last 20 minutes with Arthur and Weston McKennie also coming off the bench in place of Ramsey and Cuadrado with Bonucci coming on for the final eight minutes.

Lazio’s top striker Immobile threatened but was unable to add to his 14 goals this campaign, drawing a blank for a fourth straight game as the Romans fell to their third defeat in four matches.

“It’s a defeat that hurts,” said Lazio coach Simone Inzaghi whose side’s hopes of Champions League football next season took a knock as they sit seventh, six points adrift of Atalanta in fourth place.

“We compromised the game alone, giving away an avoidable penalty. We made some mistakes and at Juventus, with some mistakes you don’t win.”

Sassuolo’s Europa League hopes further dwindled with a 2-0 loss at midtable rivals Udinese stretching their winless run to three games.

Spanish forward Fernando Llorente scored his first goal for Udinese just before the break with Argentine Roberto Pereyra firing in a second deep into injury time.

Sassuolo, in ninth, have won just two of 11 league games played since after Christmas. Udinese are four points behind in 10th place.

Spezia snatched a 1-1 draw at home against Benevento, in a match between promoted sides vying to stay in the top flight next season.

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SERIE A: CRISTIANO RONALDO’S BRACE KEEPS JUVENTUS TITLE HOPES ALIVE AGAINST CROTONE

Cristiano Ronaldo kept Juventus within sight of the Serie A summit on Monday with a headed brace which helped the champions to a 3-0 win over bottom club Crotone. Portugal forward Ronaldo struck twice late in the first half to break the resistance of lowly Crotone and keep Juve eight points behind league leaders Inter Milan.

Weston McKennie made sure of the points midway through the second half, lashing home when the ball broke to him after a corner.

Andrea Pirlo’s side climb to third with the win thanks also to Roma, who are a point back in fourth, only managing a goalless draw at Benevento on Sunday night.

They are also four points behind second-placed AC Milan who have lost three of their last five league matches, including Sunday’s 3-0 derby thumping at the hands of Inter.

Juve, chasing their 10th straight league title, have a game in hand on both Milan clubs and play Inter in the penultimate round of league games in Turin.

Crotone meanwhile remain rooted to the bottom of the division thanks to their fifth defeat on the bounce

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UCL: FC PORTO STUN JUVENTUS IN 2-1 WIN AT HOME.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s first game for Juventus in his native Portugal ended in 2-1 defeat as FC Porto out-played the Italians for much of Wednesday’s Champions League last-16, first leg tie.

Such was Juve’s lacklustre performance that coach Andrea Pirlo claimed his team handed victory to their hosts on “a silver platter”.

Iranian striker Mehdi Taremi put Porto ahead after just a minute at Estadio do Dragao following a Rodrigo Bentancur error.

And Mali striker Moussa Marega added a second straight after the break.

But Federico Chiesa pulled a goal back with eight minutes to go to keep Juventus afloat with the second leg in Turin on 9 March.

“The approach was wrong from the first minute,” said Pirlo.

“When you concede a goal like this it’s normal that fear sets in, you lack a bit of certainty.

“Porto are good at closing down and after that goal it was much more difficult. We served them the match they wanted on a silver platter.

“Fortunately we scored an important goal through Chiesa and now we will focus on the return leg.”

It was a below-par performance by Juventus,chasing their third Champions League title and first in 25 years.

Record Champions League goal scorer Ronaldo, 36, drew a blank against a side captained by his Portuguese international teammate Pepe, as the visitors struggled to recover from their early blunder.

“We studied Juventus well,” said defender Pepe who won three Champions League titles with Ronaldo at Real Madrid.

“We knew that we had to press hard to keep Juventus from playing. In these type of games it’s difficult to concede goals at home, but we played a great game.”

It was a shocking start for Juventus, with Wojciech Szczesny sending the ball out to Bentancur, who passed back to the Polish goalkeeper despite Taremi being just on front of goal.

The Iranian quickly pounced to prod past Szczesny for his first Champions League goal.

Porto pressed forward with Juventus almost conceding a second on 23 minutes as Szczesny cleared straight to Sergio Oliveira whose shot was deflected away from goal.

To add to Andrea Pirlo’s woes captain Giorgio Chiellini limped off 10 minutes later with defender Merih Demiral coming off the bench.

Pirlo had juggled Juve’s defence with Leonardo Bonucci out injured with Alex Sandro returning, playing alongside veteran Chiellini, Matthijs de Ligt and Danilo.

Juve had to wait until four minutes before the break for their first shot on goal with an Adrien Rabiot overhead kick cleared by Porto ‘keeper Agustin Marchesin, but the offside flag had already been raised.

The Italians suffered another terrible start to the second half with Marega picking up a Wilson Manafa cross to finish low past Szczesny.

Ronaldo had to wait until five minutes after the break to have a shot on goal. Weston McKennie nodded the ball into the path of the Portuguese star, whose weak effort was blocked.

However, Chiesa pulled Juventus back into the tie following a Rabiot run down the right with a pull back for the Italian to finish off into the corner of the net.

“The goal will give us strength for the second leg, and it will certainly be another game,” said Chiesa.

It was the first goal conceded by Porto in the competition at home this season for the former two-time winners.

Ronaldo had penalty appeals waved away after going down under a Sanusi Zaidu challenge late as the hosts held on for their first win over Juventus in five meetings.

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Atalanta beat Napoli to reach Italian Cup final against Juventus

The final will be held on May 19 with Juventus looking for a record-extending 14th Italian Cup title. Juventus beat Inter Milan 2-1 on aggregate to reach its 20th final.

Atalanta beat defending champion Napoli 3-1 on Wednesday to set up an Italian Cup final against Juventus.

Matteo Pessina scored twice after Duvan Zapata had given Atalanta an early lead in the semifinal. Hirving Lozano netted early in the second half for Napoli.

The final will be held on May 19 with Juventus looking for a record-extending 14th Italian Cup title. Juventus beat Inter Milan 2-1 on aggregate to reach its 20th final.

It will be Atalanta’s fifth final. Its most recent was in 2019 but it hasn’t won the trophy since 1963.

The first leg between Napoli and Atalanta ended 0-0 last week.

Atalanta broke the deadlock in the 10th minute with a long-range strike from Zapata that swerved into the far side of the net.

Zapata turned provider six minutes later, laying off Robin Gosens’ pass for Pessina to fire in off the inside of the left post.

Atalanta had chances to score a third before Lozano reduced the deficit eight minutes into the second half, firing in a rebound after being denied by a save from goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini.

Gollini pulled off another save to deny Victor James Osimhen shortly before Atalanta sealed the match in the 78th minte, when Pessina mazed his way between two Napoli players before chipping the ball over goalkeeper David Ospina.

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RONALDO ON TARGET AS JUVE BEAT ROMA TO GO THIRD

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 23rd goal of the season and his third this week as clinical Juventus leapfrogged Roma into third with victory over Paulo Fonseca’s side, Eurosport reports.

A day removed from celebrating his 36th birthday, the Portuguese continues to belie his age with another supreme performance. He opened the scoring to give Juve the lead in the 13th-minute with a precision left-footed strike from the edge of the box, and a short while later was denied a first-half brace by the crossbar.

Roma enjoyed the lion’s share of possession in the opening 45 minutes, and although Juve had to absorb a lot of pressure, goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny didn’t have a save to make.

It was more of the same from the visitors after the restart, although the introduction of out-of-favour striker Edin Dzeko gave Roma more impetus, without reward.

And with 20 minutes remaining, Juventus sealed the points. Substitute Dejan Kulusevski raced down the right and rolled a ball across the face of goal, searching for Ronaldo but inadvertently bundled over the line by defender Roger Ibanez for an unfortunate own-goal.

Juventus, clicking into gear as the business end of the season approaches, climb above Roma into third, closing the gap on leaders Inter to five points having played a game less.

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SERIE A: JUVENTUS CRUISE PAST SAMPDORIA IN COMFORTABLE AWAY WIN.

Juventus moved to third place in Serie A with a convincing 0-2 win over Sampdoria at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris on Saturday afternoon. Cristiano Ronaldo did not add to his 15 goal tally but strikes from Federico Chiesa and substitute Aaron Ramsey were enough to get them past Samp.

It was Sampdoria who gave Andrea Pirlo the perfect start to his top-flight managerial career. Juventus started the campaign with a 3-0 win, but both sides have had similar returns from their recent outings. Claudio Ranieri has put their poor start behind, and his charges looked to avoid a repeat at home.

The game marked the midway point of the 2020-21 Serie A campaign, with both Samp and Old Lady having had three wins from their last four outings. The hosts were clear underdogs against the much-fancied Juventus and that showed in the result and attitudes of the players. The quality of Juventus was too much for Ranieri’s men, who controlled the proceedings.

There was a ten-point difference between Serie A leaders Milan and Juventus in fourth place but Andrea Pirlo’s men reduced the deficit to seven points thanks to a goal from Federico Chiesa in the first half and Aaron Ramsey’s strike in the second. Meanwhile, the hosts lost their cool and earned cautions from Michael Fabbri.

Both sides started with aplomb, but it was the travelers who would trouble the scorers. With Cristiano Ronaldo holding the defenders’ attention in the middle, Alvaro Morata ran on the right flank. His pass into the box was met by Federico Chiesa, who left his marker behind with his run into the box. It was an easy connection with the ball, and Emil Audero never had a chance of stopping it.

Following Chiesa’s strike, three Sampdoria players would be cautioned in the next ten minutes. As the minutes progressed, they would try their luck on goal but would gas out. This allowed Ronaldo two good opportunities on goal, but the Portuguese could not get on the scoreboard.

Going into the break, the score would remain the same. Coming out of it, Sampdoria were the more threatening of the two sides. Fabio Quagliarella could have delivered the perfect gift for the home fans on the eve of his 38th birthday but could not test Wojciech Szczesny in the 55th minute. In the very next minute, Alvaro Morata hit the back of the net, but the goal was ruled offside. The 57th minute saw Quagliarella again in action winning a corner from a blocked shot by the Polish goalkeeper.

Regulation time would keep the score same, and the Old Lady would strike again in added time. With Sampdoria going forward searching for an equalizer, Pirlo’s men would hit them on the counter. Ronaldo was key again, providing the pass that released Juan Cuadrado on the right flank. The Colombian squared the ball for Ramsey inside the box, and the Welshman made it 2-0.

It was all over four minutes later, Juve returning to Turin with the three points on offer. They leapfrogged Roma to take third place and moved within two points of Inter in second. Meanwhile, Sampdoria will continue to stay in the top half of the table irrespective of Benevento, the closest challengers, securing an upset win against Antonio Conte’s title challengers.

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INTER MILAN SHOCK JUVENTUS WITH WIN TO JOIN LEADERS AC MILAN.

Inter Milan shocked champions Juventus 2-0 to move level on points with Serie A leaders AC Milan on Sunday, boosting their hopes of a first league title since 2010.

Arturo Vidal got his head to a Nicolo Barella cross in the 12th minute for his first league goal for Inter Milan against his former club.

Barella added the second seven minutes after the break as Inter claimed a first victory over Juventus since September 2016, ending a series of seven matches without a win.

“It was a bad defeat, we didn’t expect it, we couldn’t have put in a worse performance than this,” said Juventus coach Andrea Pirlo after his second league defeat this season.

Our attitude was wrong, right from the start.

“We were too passive, fearful, we only thought about the defensive phase.”

Inter are equal on 40 points with local rivals Milan, who travel to Cagliari on Monday, with Juventus seven points behind the top two in fifth.

“To win against a team like Juve you have to touch perfection,” said Inter coach Antonio Conte after his first win in four meetings against the club he led to the first three of their current run of nine consecutive league titles.

“I’m happy for the lads because these are games that give you self-esteem and make you understand that we’re on the right path.

“I’ve seen a credible Inter, and it is the greatest satisfaction after a year and a half of work”.

Cristiano Ronaldo looked to have broken through for the away side after 11 minutes but Federico Chiesa was ruled offside in the build up.

And Chilean Vidal made no mistake for last season’s Serie A runners-up two minutes later off Barella’s perfect cross.

“We’ve shown that we’re up to fighting for the Scudetto,” warned Vidal, who won four league titles in as many years with Juventus.

Romelu Lukaku then forced a save from Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny on 24 minutes, with Lautaro Martinez spurning the chance to score on the rebound.

Omnipresent midfielder Barella created another chance for Lukaku which Szczesny cleared, and the Polish keeper also denied Barella before punching the ball off Lukaku’s head at full stretch.

A superb Alessandro Bastoni through ball to Barella paid off in the 52nd minute, with the pacy Italy midfielder shaking off Gianluca Frabotta and Giorgio Chiellini to blast home the second.

Pirlo made a triple change just before the hour with Weston McKennie, Federico Bernardeschi and Dejan Kulusevski coming off the bench.

But Inter ‘keeper Samir Handanovic was rarely threatened, clearing a McKennie header on 61 minutes, and a Chiesa effort three minutes from time.

“It’s a slip-up, but our ambition remains the same, there is still a long way to go,” warned Pirlo, whose side next meet Napoli in Wednesday’s Italian Super Cup.

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RONALDO, RAMSEY ON TARGET AS JUVENTUS EDGE SASSUOLO.

Goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Wales’ Aaron Ramsey helped Juventus to secure a 3-1 victory over 10-man Sassuolo in Serie A on Sunday, lifting the champions to fourth place in the standings.

Following their win at leaders AC Milan in midweek, Juventus struggled to create many chances in the first half, but their cause was aided after Pedro Obiang was sent off for a dangerous tackle on Federico Chiesa just before half-time.

Juventus capitalised on the numerical advantage as Danilo was left in plenty of space to fire home a fierce opener in the 50th minute, but the lead lasted just eight minutes as Gregoire Defrel levelled to stun the hosts.

Ramsey, who has been in and out of the side this season, put Juve in front in the 82nd minute with his first goal of the season. In contrast, Serie A top scorer Ronaldo took his season’s tally to 15 as he struck in stoppage-time to complete the win.

The result helped Juve close the gap with leaders Milan to seven points, having played one game less. Sassuolo stay seventh.

“Victories are built with everyone’s work and sacrifice, we have already made mistakes too many times,” Juventus coach Andrea Pirlo said.

“After Milan’s win over Torino [on Saturday] we understood that we need maximum concentration and the desire to bring home the victories. We had to continue after the win at the San Siro. It was important to maintain our form.”

After scoring three times in Milan in midweek, Juve’s strikeforce could not get going in the first half at the Juventus Stadium.

Obiang’s dismissal, however, gave Juve a boost, with the referee issuing a straight red card after the VAR asked the official to have another look at the midfielder’s studs-up tackle on Chiesa.

Danilo’s third Juventus goal settled the hosts’ nerves, but Sassuolo, enjoying a fine season, were not overawed despite being a man down as Defrel fired them level and they had several other chances to take the lead.

Ramsey, who replaced the injured Weston McKennie in the first half, got the all-important second, arriving on cue to meet a Gianluca Frabotta cross, before Ronaldo drilled home to make sure of a third successive win for Juve.

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AC MILAN SUFFER FIRST DEFEAT AS CHIESA FIRES JUVENTUS TO THRILLING WIN.

Juventus inflicted a first Serie A defeat of the season on league leaders AC Milan as a Federico Chiesa double led the Italian champions to an exhilarating 3-1 win at San Siro on Wednesday.

Chiesa fired home a superb opener before makeshift midfielder Davide Calabria equalised for Milan at the end of an eventful, end-to-end first half.

But the visitors pulled away after the break as Chiesa curled in his second and substitute Weston McKennie swept in from close range to consign Milan to their first league defeat since March 8th, 2020, a run of 27 games lasting 304 days.

Stefano Pioli’s side remain top of the table on 37 points, one ahead of second-placed Inter Milan, who lost to Sampdoria earlier on Wednesday.

Juventus rise to fourth place on 30 points, but have a game in hand over the three teams above them.

Milan coach Pioli was forced to play right back Calabria in midfield after Rade Krunic and Ante Rebic were ruled out on matchday following positive Covid-19 tests, adding to an absentee list including Sandro Tonali, Ismael Bennacer, Alexis Saelemaekers and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Juventus had issues of their own, with Juan Cuadrado and Alex Sandro in isolation and Alvaro Morata injured, but the selection problems did not impact the quality of an action-packed opening period.

Chiesa blasted a powerful half-volley off the post before finding the breakthrough in the 18th minute, when a clever backheeled pass from Paulo Dybala sent the Italy international through on goal to finish.

Rafael Leao curled a shot narrowly wide and Chiesa had another effort saved before Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny’s diving save stopped an Aaron Ramsey clearance from flying into his own net.

Milan hit back four minutes before the break when Leao picked out Calabria in the box and he fired into the top corner.

The tempo dropped slightly in the second half and Juventus took control on 62 minutes when Chiesa curled a left-footed shot into the bottom corner. The winger was forced off after hurting himself in the process, but the strength of the Juve bench showed when two replacements combined for their third.

Dejan Kulusevski weaved into the box from the wing and laid off a pass to McKennie, who was left with a simple finish from six yards.

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NAPOLI WINS APPEAL FOR SERIE A UNPLAYED JUVE MATCH

Napoli have won their appeal against the decision to hand them a 3-0 defeat and deduct one point for failing to play their Serie A match at Juventus in October amid confusion over Italian football’s COVID-19 rules.

The ANSA news agency said the Italian Olympic Committee’s Guarantee Board, the highest tribunal in Italian sport, had accepted Napoli’s appeal and ordered that the match be played.

Napoli did not travel to Turin for the game on Oct 4., saying their local health authority (ASL) had told the players to stay at home after two members of their squad tested positive for COVID-19.

Serie A turned down Napoli’s request to call the game off and the league’s disciplinary tribunal subsequently handed them a 3-0 defeat and deducted one point.

“We are happy,” said Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis. “We live in a country where those who respect the laws cannot be convicted. And Napoli always follow the rules.”

Juventus director of football Fabio Paratici shrugged off the verdict.

“The first comment to make is that we have always been indifferent to the matter,” he said. “When they tell us to play we will go and play — having said that we were also there on 4 October.”

Before Tuesday’s decision, Juventus were third on 27 points, with AS Roma on 24 and Napoli on 23.