Juventus ended their three-match winless streak by beating Udinese at the Bluenergy Stadium by two unanswered goals.
Thiago Motta started with his usual 4-2-3-1 formation spearheaded by Dusan Vlahovic. The Serbian was supported by Timothy Weah and Kenan Yildiz on the wings, as well as the returning Teun Koopmeiners who operated in the hole. Manuel Locatelli and Khephren Thuram started in midfield, while Nicolo Savona, Federico Gatti, Pierre Kalulu and Andrea Cambiaso constituted the backline.
Juventus dominated possession from the early going, and could have opened the scoring in the first two minutes, but Thuram failed to hit the target from a narrow angle.
Nevertheless, the Frenchman made up for it by producing the opener in the 20th minute. The Bianconeri displayed neat football in the buildup but Thuram still had much to do. The midfielder dribbled past Christian Kabesele before hitting the far post, but was lucky enough to see the ball bounce off Maduka Okeye’s back and sneak into the goal to give the Old Lady the lead.
Keinan Davis almost restored parity straight away, but was denied by Michele Di Gregorio’s astonishing save.
In the 37th minute, Motta’s men doubled their lead when Yildiz was thwarted by the post, but Savona was in the right place to pounce on the rebound. The young right-back drilled a low ball with his weaker foot to score his second of the season.
In the second half, both sides had their chances, especially Udinese who became more dangerous following Lorenzo Lucca’s introduction. The latter saw a powerful header smash against the woodwork. On the other hand, Koopmeiners almost opened his account for Juventus but couldn’t beat Okeye from close range.
Nevertheless, Motta will be content with the all-important victory, as Juventus temporarily climb to third place in the table.
Udinese 0-2 Juventus
Goals: 19′ (OG) Okoye, 37′ Savona
UDINESE (3-5-2): Okoye; Kabasele (45′ Ebosse), Bijol, Giannetti; Ehizibue (87′ Modesto), Lovric (45′ Zarraga), Karlstrom, Payero, Zemura (66′ Kamara); Thauvin (66′ Lucca), Davis. Coacch. Runjaic.
JUVENTUS (4-2-3-1) : Di Gregorio; Savona (80′ Danilo), Gatti, Kalulu, Cambiaso (80′ Cabal); Thuram (69′ McKennie), Locatelli; Weah (86′ Mbangula), Koopmeiners, Yildiz; Vlahovic (69′ Conceicao). Coach Thiago Motta.
Referee: Abisso from Palermo
Yellow cards: 47′ Bijol, 57′ Locatelli, 83′ Davis, 90′ Gatti