Serie A: Lazio vs Juventus [Dec 15th 2007] (20 Viewers)
- Thread starter JCK
- Start date
Good match report. Spot on on everything.
You have hit the nail on the head with the above paragraph. Any match that we so much as show some lack of confidence in midfield translates to torture for our defense & our forwards could just as well pack for the day. We scored 3 goals, 1 from dead ball situation & the other 2 from stunning individual efforts. When the defense recovers the ball & the midfield passes it back to an isolated Molinaro then you can't expect anything to come out of it. That & the fact that Nocerino's performance in the passing department has not improved an iota is a recipe of disaster.
What we need to do is go out & immediately put the pressure on the opponents & force them back but as we already know our performance has been based on the most part down to the willingness & effort - skill has not been a part of our midfield. Let's hope that Tiago can fill that gap.
You have hit the nail on the head with the above paragraph. Any match that we so much as show some lack of confidence in midfield translates to torture for our defense & our forwards could just as well pack for the day. We scored 3 goals, 1 from dead ball situation & the other 2 from stunning individual efforts. When the defense recovers the ball & the midfield passes it back to an isolated Molinaro then you can't expect anything to come out of it. That & the fact that Nocerino's performance in the passing department has not improved an iota is a recipe of disaster.
What we need to do is go out & immediately put the pressure on the opponents & force them back but as we already know our performance has been based on the most part down to the willingness & effort - skill has not been a part of our midfield. Let's hope that Tiago can fill that gap.
Juve legend Alex Del Piero talked about his performance against Lazio, against whom he scored two goals tonight.
We Suffered Tonight - Del Piero
Juventus captain Alessandro Del Piero, who was the hero tonight in the Old Lady's win over Lazio with two great goals, gave an interview to SKY right after the match.
Asked how he felt about having played the full 90 minutes after coming on several times as a substitute this season, he said: "It means a lot to have played the full match, because when you have 90 minutes available you have more opportunities to show what you can do.
"Tonight I'm happy for two reasons, because I scored and we hadn't won away from home in a long time.
"[Coach Claudio] Ranieri was unsatisfied? Well, we did suffer during parts of the game, but we still defended quite well. There's always things you can improve."
On whether the team are more interested in the results of teams in front of them or behind them, he said: "We have to look at the teams in front of us as well as those who are behind."
We Suffered Tonight - Del Piero
Juventus captain Alessandro Del Piero, who was the hero tonight in the Old Lady's win over Lazio with two great goals, gave an interview to SKY right after the match.
Asked how he felt about having played the full 90 minutes after coming on several times as a substitute this season, he said: "It means a lot to have played the full match, because when you have 90 minutes available you have more opportunities to show what you can do.
"Tonight I'm happy for two reasons, because I scored and we hadn't won away from home in a long time.
"[Coach Claudio] Ranieri was unsatisfied? Well, we did suffer during parts of the game, but we still defended quite well. There's always things you can improve."
On whether the team are more interested in the results of teams in front of them or behind them, he said: "We have to look at the teams in front of us as well as those who are behind."
Buffon
Zebina - Legrottaglie - Chiellini - Molinaro
Nocerino - Zanetti - Nedved
Tiago
Trezeguet - Del Piero
Zebina - Legrottaglie - Chiellini - Molinaro
Nocerino - Zanetti - Nedved
Tiago
Trezeguet - Del Piero
But DPand Tiago have defn won their place for the next game for certain i would say.
:flag:
from AFP.
Ranieri unhappy despite Del Piero firing Juve to second spot
1 hour ago
ROME (AFP) — Alessandro Del Piero scored a brace of second-half breakaway goals to fire Juventus up to second place in Serie A with a 3-2 win over Lazio at the Stadio Olympico here on Saturday.
Juve leapfrogged Roma, for a day at least, and closed the gap on champions Inter Milan to just five points with this clinical away display.
Lazio should have won but Del Piero's goals and a brilliant performance from goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon won the match for Juve.
Despite the victory, Juve coach Caudio Ranieri was far from happy.
"We've taken three steps forward because we have won three points, but four backwards because Lazio broke down our defence more than all the other teams put together," Ranieri told Sky Sport.
"We didn't play well. We're lucky because tonight we had Buffon and Del Piero."
Del Piero was just happy the team had held on for the win.
"We suffered a lot at the end of the match but we proved good enough to defend our lead," he said.
Despite their lofty position, Del Piero is not getting carried away with a title challenge.
"We're more interested in guarding against those behind us than trying to catch those in front," added the veteran star.
The hosts should have taken the lead after 18 minutes but following a mistake in the Juventus defence, Stefano Mauri blazed over the bar from six yards.
Lazio were made to pay just before the half-hour mark when Serie A top scorer David Trezeguet put Juve in front.
The France forward, currently out of favour with national coach Raymond Domenech, knew little about his goal but it was nonetheless credited to him.
A poked shot from Bosnia midfielder Hassan Salihamidzic was going wide but flicked off Trezeguet's boot and looped up into the top corner.
The lead lasted only seven minutes before Lazio produced the move of the match, with Tommaso Rocchi's flicked header releasing Massimo Mutarelli to cross for Serbian forward Goran Pandev to head home at the far post.
Juve survived a penalty scare late in the first period when Salihamidzic appeared to bring down Alexsandar Kolarov and three minutes after the break they were back in front.
Del Piero beat the offside trap and latched onto a long ball before beating Marco Ballotta in the Lazio goal with a clinical left-foot finish.
Trezeguet had a chance to make the game safe just after the hour mark when he found himself clean through from substitute Cardoso Tiago's through ball but he fired his shot straight at Ballotta.
Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon earned his keep on 65 minutes with a brilliant one-handed save to deny Rocchi when an equaliser looked certain.
That save proved crucial five minutes later when Del Piero sealed the victory with an identical goal to his first effort.
Pandev headed home a consolation goal deep into injury time from Rocchi's near post cross.
Earlier, Udinese's Champions League hopes were dealt a blow in Sicily as the north-eastern outfit lost 2-0 at Catania.
Striker Giuseppe Mascara doubled his tally for the season, scoring at both ends of the match to move Catania up to eighth, until Sunday at least.
For Udinese, though, it was a huge disappointment following their brilliant start to the season that sees them sit fourth in the table.
Ranieri unhappy despite Del Piero firing Juve to second spot
1 hour ago
ROME (AFP) — Alessandro Del Piero scored a brace of second-half breakaway goals to fire Juventus up to second place in Serie A with a 3-2 win over Lazio at the Stadio Olympico here on Saturday.
Juve leapfrogged Roma, for a day at least, and closed the gap on champions Inter Milan to just five points with this clinical away display.
Lazio should have won but Del Piero's goals and a brilliant performance from goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon won the match for Juve.
Despite the victory, Juve coach Caudio Ranieri was far from happy.
"We've taken three steps forward because we have won three points, but four backwards because Lazio broke down our defence more than all the other teams put together," Ranieri told Sky Sport.
"We didn't play well. We're lucky because tonight we had Buffon and Del Piero."
Del Piero was just happy the team had held on for the win.
"We suffered a lot at the end of the match but we proved good enough to defend our lead," he said.
Despite their lofty position, Del Piero is not getting carried away with a title challenge.
"We're more interested in guarding against those behind us than trying to catch those in front," added the veteran star.
The hosts should have taken the lead after 18 minutes but following a mistake in the Juventus defence, Stefano Mauri blazed over the bar from six yards.
Lazio were made to pay just before the half-hour mark when Serie A top scorer David Trezeguet put Juve in front.
The France forward, currently out of favour with national coach Raymond Domenech, knew little about his goal but it was nonetheless credited to him.
A poked shot from Bosnia midfielder Hassan Salihamidzic was going wide but flicked off Trezeguet's boot and looped up into the top corner.
The lead lasted only seven minutes before Lazio produced the move of the match, with Tommaso Rocchi's flicked header releasing Massimo Mutarelli to cross for Serbian forward Goran Pandev to head home at the far post.
Juve survived a penalty scare late in the first period when Salihamidzic appeared to bring down Alexsandar Kolarov and three minutes after the break they were back in front.
Del Piero beat the offside trap and latched onto a long ball before beating Marco Ballotta in the Lazio goal with a clinical left-foot finish.
Trezeguet had a chance to make the game safe just after the hour mark when he found himself clean through from substitute Cardoso Tiago's through ball but he fired his shot straight at Ballotta.
Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon earned his keep on 65 minutes with a brilliant one-handed save to deny Rocchi when an equaliser looked certain.
That save proved crucial five minutes later when Del Piero sealed the victory with an identical goal to his first effort.
Pandev headed home a consolation goal deep into injury time from Rocchi's near post cross.
Earlier, Udinese's Champions League hopes were dealt a blow in Sicily as the north-eastern outfit lost 2-0 at Catania.
Striker Giuseppe Mascara doubled his tally for the season, scoring at both ends of the match to move Catania up to eighth, until Sunday at least.
For Udinese, though, it was a huge disappointment following their brilliant start to the season that sees them sit fourth in the table.
I thought we had a terrible first half , it was really disgusting , we didn't even deserve to go ahead . We couldn't string more than 3 passes together against Lazio . We couldn't control the ball , we couldn't create plays , we could barely even defend . Nazetti and Nocerino are defensive midfielders , Nedved and Sali are wingers , they aren't creative players . Del piero and Trez are our strikers .
The way Juve plays is so predictable that even a struggling Lazio was able to read us like an open book . They dominated us in the first half .
When Tiago came in you could feel this balance in the team , every player had his role and we finally had some creativity . In 5 mins we created more chances than we did the whole first half . It's obvious why , Tiago and Del piero combined very nicely and found lots of spaces in Lazio's defence . We were beggining to play good football , at least better than before .
However , we didn't win the game because we dominated Lazio or were superior to them . We won because of moments of individual brilliance by Zanetti and Del piero , that's what separated Lazio form Juve . Del piero , Zanetti , and Buffon made the difference tonight but this won't be the case every night . Juve need to start playing as a team more , the fact that our only chance of the fist half came from from a fucking corner really disappoints me .
The way Juve plays is so predictable that even a struggling Lazio was able to read us like an open book . They dominated us in the first half .
When Tiago came in you could feel this balance in the team , every player had his role and we finally had some creativity . In 5 mins we created more chances than we did the whole first half . It's obvious why , Tiago and Del piero combined very nicely and found lots of spaces in Lazio's defence . We were beggining to play good football , at least better than before .
However , we didn't win the game because we dominated Lazio or were superior to them . We won because of moments of individual brilliance by Zanetti and Del piero , that's what separated Lazio form Juve . Del piero , Zanetti , and Buffon made the difference tonight but this won't be the case every night . Juve need to start playing as a team more , the fact that our only chance of the fist half came from from a fucking corner really disappoints me .
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