Juventus defeats Udinese as Chiesa, Danilo make the difference
By Nick Belotto
Juventus put together a solid performance against Udinese on Saturday that ended with their 8th victory in a row.
Juventus started the game with a few changes to the lineup. Angel Di Maria, Adrien Rabiot, Daniele Rugani, Alex Sandro, and Moise Kean all returned to the starting lineup in this match. These fresh legs helped to keep the pressure on Udinese’s defense throughout the game.
In the first half, Di Maria and Kean looked to be the most dangerous players on the pitch. Di Maria’s played excellent crosses into the box and Kean made a number of quality runs. The defense had only a few issues that they had to deal with from the Udinese attackers. Even though Juve was without a goal, they certainly looked like the better team and looked dynamic in the attack.
Juventus looked about the same in the second half. They made a number of subs before the 70th minute, including bringing on Federico Chiesa and Leandro Paredes. These two subs in particular proved to be the difference maker. In the 86th minute, Paredes played a beautiful ball to Chiesa who found Danilo at the back post for the winning goal. The entire play that led to the goal was evidence of the creativity Juventus is capable of in the attacking third.
Juventus secured a valuable three points against Udinese which makes the upcoming match against Napoli even more intriguing.
Chiesa’s talent is undeniable. Now that he has played off the bench in the last two matches, he should be chosen in the starting XI for the match against Napoli next Friday. His creativity and vision are unmatched on the squad and he is incredibly valuable to the club.
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It’s hard to find too much fault in the Juventus squad in this match. They continued to struggle, however, with capitalizing on the chances they get in the box. They will need to figure that out over the next week of training in order to stand a chance against the league leaders in their next match.