Journalist
November 2, 2024 (change at 8.13pm) – UDINE
In view of the Champions League and the Turin derby, Juventus returns to spend a few peaceful nights: they beat Udinese 0-2 at home and join Inter, four points behind leaders Napoli, ready for seven days of fire before of the third seasonal break for the national teams. At the Bluenergy Stadium, despite a few too many risks, Thiago Motta returns to see a team capable of creating dangers up front and resisting the narcoleptic temptation to doze off while marking in the penalty area. In the first half the two posts of Khephren Thuram and Kenan Yildiz favored Maduka Okoye's own goal and Nicolò Savona's second goal, then the second half confirmed the result with a couple of clear chances on each side, above all Lorenzo Lucca's crossbar.
POLE, SWEET POLE
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The ownership of captain Florian Thauvin is the initial news for Kosta Runjaic's team, while the away team find Yildiz again from the 1st minute and not during the match, with Timothy Weah on the right and Francisco Conceiçao on the bench. Above all, however, Motta hugs Teun Koopmeiners again from the kick-off for the first time since the October international break. Compared to the last outings, Juventus certainly starts with a more proactive attitude, but the difficulties persist in the last 30 meters: many inaccuracies and easily readable solutions for the trio of Udinese defenders. To break that ice which too many times this season has seemed scarier than the Titanic iceberg, in the 20th minute Thuram needs a splendid play: Christian Kabasele leaps nimbly into the area and then scores after hitting the far post. For the purposes of awarding the goal, Okoye's unfortunate deflection, where he accidentally hits the ball before crossing the goal line, is decisive. A flash from Keinan Davis – double step and very powerful conclusion – immediately engages Michele Di Gregorio as a manifesto of Friulian reaction, but then there are few followers of the English attacker beyond his commendable combativeness on every ball. In the 37th minute, Yildiz's return attempt ends up hitting the far post again after a slight deflection, but Savona has the merit of immediately thinking about the shot when he collects the loose ball just inside the penalty area: immediate left-footed low shot and goal of the double, the second in the league for the 21-year-old.
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ASSAULT REPELLED
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At half-time Runjaic looked for a turning point with the substitutions of Enzo Ebosse for Kabasele and Oier Zarraga for Sandi Lovric, but in the 52nd minute Davis' goal to make it 1-2 was canceled out by Rosario Abisso: Federico Gatti and Di Gregorio collided leaving the goal free for the Englishman, who however had placed a hand on the defender's back, causing the two Juventus players to get into trouble. Motta's team thus understands that at the Bluenergy Stadium there is little to feel calm about: the guests' center of gravity rises immediately and Dusan Vlahovic tests Okoye's gloves with a powerful left-footed shot, then Conceiçao and Weston McKennie take the place of the Serbian and Thuram, with Yildiz in a center forward position and Weah diverted to the left. The Friulians continue not to give up and scare Juventus with two dangerous headers in the last quarter of an hour, but Di Gregorio saves Davis' one and the crossbar blocks substitute Lucca's. Koopmeiners kicks badly at Okoye on the counterattack and Udinese-Juventus, after the hat-trick devoured, has nothing left to say.
