It took 87 minutes, a sending off, and a wicked deflection, but in the end, Juventus managed to pull three points out of nowhere against Lazio. The Old Lady came to the Stadio Olimpico with just one goal in mind: leave with a draw. Yet somehow, a ball from Simone Pepe ended up in the back of the net, and Juventus inch closer to a spot in European competition.
Lazio Vs. Juventus: Lucky Goal By Simone Pepe Gives Juventus The Win
Much of the match can be easily summed up. Lazio kept the ball in the Juventus half, attempting shots but finding them blocked by the fifteen black and white kits standing guard in front of Gigi Buffon’s goal. Juventus would then gain possession, but proceeded to simply pass the ball around the midfield for awhile before losing it to one of the Lazio players. Meanwhile, Nando Muslera sipped coffee and read a spy novel in front of his net.
Things got much more interesting after Cristian Ledesma was sent off with a second yellow card, Felipe Melo taking advantage of the situation by falling over a blade of grass. It almost seems as though the opposition simply waits until Lazio are down a man before attempting to play football. Gigi Delneri certainly finally decided to take a risk and urged his players forward. Suddenly, it looked as though Juventus might actually want to score a goal.
Yet even Juventus had to be surprised at the manner in which they got their goal. A cross came into the box and Luca Toni decided he wanted to play the hero, making an attempt to control the ball. Instead it sort of bounced off his boot and into the path of Simone Pepe, who took a low shot from just outside the area. The ball took a deflection off Lionel Scaloni and bounced into the back of the net, with Muslera caught diving the wrong direction.
Lazio remain just one point above both Udinese and Roma, and with next week's match against Udinese, they might just find themselves pushed out of Champions League contention. Juve are still outside of the European spots, but with an AC Milan over Roma on Saturday, they could find themselves able to sneak into the Europa League.
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