Post by Taxigirl on Dec 7, 2003 11:53:35 GMT
Corradi 20 (L), Fiore 45 (L)
Stadio Olimpico
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Juventus collapse to their third defeat on the trot as injury-hit Lazio take a deserved 2-0 victory at the Olimpico.
Both these teams were desperate for a result following a series of setbacks in all competitions. Juventus were unbeaten until last week, but suffered two consecutive defeats to Inter and Galatasaray. Lazio have struggled in the last month and risked slipping out of the title chase altogether.
Despite his disappointing recent form, Alessandro Del Piero retained his starting place alongside David Trezeguet, while Edgar Davids was again left on the bench.
Crucially, Gianluca Zambrotta made his return from injury after missing both those defeats. Pavel Nedved stepped back into the Stadio Olimpico following his five years as a fan favourite here.
Lazio fielded a trident attack with Claudio Lopez out wide around front two Bernardo Corradi and Roberto Muzzi. Jaap Stam and Giuseppe Favalli returned from injury to shore up the defence, but Dejan Stankovic is suspended.
The Biancocelesti have an excellent record against Juventus, as the Turin giants have not won here since 1999, earning two draws and three defeats. During that period Juve have scored just twice.
The home side had the first chance on four minutes when Muzzi nodded a Claudio Lopez cross wide of the near post.
Juve tried to strike on the counter-attack, but Del Piero and Nedved got in each others' way and the chance went begging.
Corradi brought a fine reaction save out of Gianluigi Buffon at the near post, but the move was halted due to a foul on Zambrotta.
A well-taken free kick was clipped back into the box for Stam, but some desperate defending managed to clear the danger.
Lazio were taking control of the game and eventually took a deserved lead on 20 minutes. A Stam throw-in reached Stefano Fiore and Corradi's wonderful glancing header took the entire Juve defence by surprise.
The Bianconeri fought back immediately and Angelo Peruzzi did well to parry a Del Piero volley from eight yards.
There was bad news for Lazio soon after, as Muzzi limped off with an apparent injury to be replaced by Fabio Liverani.
Nedved nearly netted a spectacular equaliser against his former club when Peruzzi tipped a swerving free kick over the bar.
There was further trouble when Claudio Lopez suffered a recurrence of a knee injury. The Argentine, who has been out for several weeks, was practically in tears with the pain and was forced off in favour of Massimo Oddo.
Nonetheless, the Romans kept on coming and Buffon just beat Corradi to another fine Fiore cross.
On 35 minutes it looked as if Lazio had made it two, but a Mihajlovic free kick flew inches wide of the upright off Corradi's shoulder.
Roberto Mancini's men were pouring forward in waves and Paolo Montero was booked for a bodycheck on Giuliano Giannichedda. It could have been a last man foul, but Lilian Thuram was near enough to save him from the red card.
From the resulting free kick just outside the box Buffon flew to palm out a Mihajlovic curler. Confidence increased, and a well-worked move saw Fiore fire wide following Corradi's dummy.
The pressure was increasing and in first half stoppage time Lazio doubled their lead. Corradi took advantage of some poor Nicola Legrottaglie defending to cut back for the unmarked Fiore from ten yards.
Marcello Lippi had to make changes and performed all three substitutions at half-time, introducing Marco Di Vaio, Ciro Ferrara and Enzo Maresca.
It was a special moment for Di Vaio, a Lazio youth product who has never hidden his love for the blue and white colours.
The ex-Parma man made an immediate impact and wreaked havoc in the box before his effort was scrambled out for a corner.
However, this left more spaces at the back for Lazio to attack in and some desperate defending prevented Fiore getting to a smart Oddo centre.
Soon after Jaap Stam charged all the way up the field and a powerful drive brought a difficult save out of Buffon.
Lazio's luck was getting no better, as within ten minutes of the restart Sinisa Mihajlovic pulled up with what looks to be a thigh strain. The third substitution was forced, leaving Simone Inzaghi on the bench.
Juventus continued to struggle and a Nedved free kick was deflected on to the side netting. On the resulting corner Stephan Appiah's volley was blocked and there were appeals for Giannichedda's handling offence. Replays suggest there was contact with an outstretched arm, although the two players were very close together.
The Capital club tend to drop off towards the end of matches and that was again true in this encounter as Di Vaio drilled over from the edge of the box.
Peruzzi fumbled the ball under pressure from Di Vaio, but Nedved's follow-up came off his teammate.
The Italian international went close again soon after when he gathered Del Piero's through ball, but went for glory and shot wide of the near post, then Legrottaglie nodded a good chance over the bar.
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Lazio: Peruzzi; Stam, Negro, Mihajlovic (Couto 56), Favalli; Fiore, Albertini, Giannichedda, Lopez (Oddo 33); Corradi, Muzzi (Liverani 25)
Juventus: Buffon; Thuram, Legrottaglie, Montero (Ferrara 46), Zambrotta; Camoranesi (Maresca 46), Tacchinardi, Nedved, Appiah; Del Piero, Trezeguet (Di Vaio 46)
Ref: Bolognino