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Serie A Report: Udinese v Juventus 23 July 2020

Serie A Report: Udinese v Juventus 23 July 2020

Lazio 2-1 Cagliari

Ciro Immobile moved ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo in the Serie A Golden Boot race after netting Lazio's winner against Cagliari to secure UEFA Champions League football for next season.

The hosts were on the front foot in the early stages and came close to opening the scoring in the 18th minute after Immobile latched onto a cross inside the box but his well-weighted shot was saved by shot-stopper Alessio Cragno.

Cagliari were very organised at the back, waiting for their chances on counter-attacks and they nearly broke the deadlock on the half-hour mark after Federico Mattiello delivered a good cross into the box but Artur Ionita's header was palmed away by Thomas Strakosha.

Cagliari eventually broke the deadlock on the stroke of half-time after Giovanni Simeone fired a strike from the edge of the box that took a deflection and went past the stranded Strakosha.

Lazio had a perfect response coming after the break, as Milinkovic-Savic levelled matters two minutes inside the second stanza with a strike from a rebound on the edge of the box that found the top corner.

The hosts were increasing their intensity in attack, creating chances and they eventually restored their lead on the hour-mark after Immobile went clear on goal inside the box from Alberto's pass and fired a low strike into the bottom corner for his 31st league goal of the season, moving one ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Inzaghi's troops were putting Cagliari under a lot of pressure and Joaquin Correa had a great chance to give the hosts a two-goal cushion with 13 minutes remaining after he latched onto a loose ball inside the six-yard box but his low shot through the centre of the goals was saved by Cragno.

Immobile had a chance to put the game to bed for Lazio in the last five minutes with a header around the penalty area from Jordan Lukaku's cross but his effort in the top centre of the crossbar was saved by Cragno as the encounter finished 2-1, which secures a Champions League spot for Lazio.

Udinese 2-1 Juventus

Juventus will have to wait a bit longer to secure the Serie A title after the league leaders suffered defeat to Udinese on Thursday evening.

Bianconeri manager Maurizio Sarri three changes to the side that beat Lazio, as Federico Bernardeschi, Danilo and Daniele Rugani came to the fore in place of Douglas Costa, Juan Cuadrado and Leonardo Bonucci.

The game was open in the early stages and Udinese came close to opening the scoring in the tenth minute after Juventus' Danilo glanced a header onto his own post in an attempt to clear a cross from Ken Sema.

Juventus also came close to going ahead three minutes later through a mistake at the back after a back pass from Bram Nuytinck got past the trapping foot of goalkeeper Juan Musso but the Argentine recovered quickly to stop the ball from trickling into an empty net.

Sarri's troops were gaining momentum midway through the first stanza, as Cristiano Ronaldo almost broke the deadlock with a dipping strike from outside the box that missed the far post by a whisker.

Luca Gotti's troops were defending deep in their own half towards the end of the first stanza and they paid the price, as Matthijs de Ligt opened the scoring for the visitors three minutes before the break with a thumping strike from range.

The hosts had renewed energy coming after the break, playing on counter-attacks and they levelled matters seven minutes inside the second stanza after IIija Nestorovski powered home a diving header at the far post from Sema's cross.

Juventus started to ask questions after that, looking to restore their lead and Paulo Dybala came close to restoring the lead just after the hour-mark after finding a pocket of space just outside the box but his curling effort was smothered by Musso.

However, the Old Lady were not finding way through the defence in the last quarter of an hour and Sarri made a tactical change, bringing on the fresh legs of the more offensive Juan Cuadrado in place of right back Danilo.

Bianconeri were sloppy at the back, dangerously playing the ball around and they lost possession to Seko Fofana deep in stoppage time, who burst through and got around De Ligt before firing a low strike past goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny to seal their first win over Juventus in 10 years.

The Old Lady remain six points clear at the top of the log with three games to play while Udinese moved seven points away from the relegation zone.

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