Seko Fofana on Thursday scored the winner as Juventus fell to a shock 2-1 defeat at struggling Udinese, missing the chance to seal their ninth consecutive Serie A title.
Netherlands defender Matthijs de Ligt had put the defending champions ahead three minutes before halftime in Udine, but a diving Ilija Nestorovski header seven minutes after the break got Udinese level, with Fofana completing the comeback in stoppage-time.
Juventus remain six points ahead of second-placed Atalanta BC with three matches left to play and have another chance to seal their 36th scudetto on the pitch tomorrow at home against 14th-placed US Sampdoria.
Photo: AP
Maurizio Sarri’s side need just three more points and the coronation could even come today, depending on the results of Atalanta and third-placed Inter, who play AC Milan and Genoa respectively.
“We paid for a lack of order after a good first half because we wanted to win at all costs,” Sarri said. “In this way we took the game to a dangerous level, and after the 90th minute we lost it.”
“In this period we are physically and mentally tired,” he said.
Juve’s performance against Udinese was worrying ahead of their crunch UEFA Champions League round-of-16 game against Olympique Lyonnais on Aug. 7.
“At the moment I am not thinking about the Champions League, in my mind there is only Sampdoria,” Sarri said.
The match started with a clumsy header by Danilo, which almost resulted in an own-goal before bouncing off Wojciech Szczesny’s post.
Udinese goalkeeper Juan Musso denied Paulo Dybala — who was the captain’s armband — after 13 minutes, with Cristiano Ronaldo’s long-range effort going wide before De Ligt broke through, smashing in after 42 minutes.
Nestorovski took advantage of an Alex Sandro error to equalize after halftime, getting his head to a cross from on-loan Watford midfielder Ken Sema to beat Szczesny.
Ivory Coast international Fofana capped a solid match two minutes into stoppage-time by getting the better of De Ligt to all but ensure Udinese of staying in Serie A with his third goal of the season.
It was a precious three points for Udinese who move up to 15th, seven points clear of the relegation zone.
“Juventus wanted to win the championship, but we had a great game,” Fofana said. “We said beforehand that [relegation rivals US] Lecce were going strong and we had to push forward.”
In Rome, SS Lazio came from a goal down to defeat Cagliari 2-1 and move to within a point of Inter.
Sergey Milinkovic-Savic got Lazio back into the game just after halftime, with Ciro Immobile connecting with a Luis Alberto cross for the winner after an hour.
It was Immobile’s 31st goal of the season and moves the Italian back ahead of Ronaldo in the battle for the Serie A’s top scorer.
Simone Inzaghi’s side ended their five-match winless streak and the victory leaves them with just a slim chance of winning the title, as they sit eight points behind Juventus, but they are assured of a spot in the Champions League next season.
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