Game 30, Serie A
Sunday, May 7, 1995
Stadio Delle Alpi, Turin
Juventus Lazio 0-3
Juventus totally dominated for 70 minutes but could not beat an inspired Marchegiani and were made to pay by Di Matteo plus two injury time goals
So far in the league Lazio were in 4th position. The Biancocelesti had won 14, drawn 6 and lost 9.
Juventus were top of the table and closing in on yet another Serie A title.
The match
A crowd of 45,000 turned up to see Juve move nearer the league title.
The game was controlled by Juve from the start and Luca Marchegiani soon realized he would be in for a busy afternoon. His first difficult save came from a Moreno Torricelli header in the 11th minute and he then repeated himself on a Sergio Porrini header with a prodigious reflex. In the 26th minute Ciro Ferrara's curling shot was again superbly saved by the "Conte" (The Count, for his aplomb and gentleman like manner).
And Lazio? They had one chance in the 28th minute but an Alen Boksic shot went just wide of an empty goal after Michelangelo Rampulla had recklessly come off his line.
Then it was all Juve again. In the 33rd minute Fabrizio Ravanelli and Gianluca Vialli got in each other's way and "Topolino's" (Little mouse) shot went wide. A minute later Didier Deschamps decided to go alone but Marchegiani managed to anticipate him just before he shot. The Frenchman tried again a few minutes later with what looked like a certain goal but Marchegiani's dive denied the "Old Lady" again. A minute later a Vialli header went wide and then came the Lazio keeper's masterpiece, a close range Ravanelli header was almost miraculously kept out by "Super Luca". Half time came and the score was incredibly still 0-0.
Lazio were so in difficulty that Zdenek Zeman changed the line-up from his classic 4-3-3 to a more defensive 4-4-2 introducing Giorgio Venturin for Beppe Signori during the interval. The Czech had never done something like this before or since.
The second half started off in the same pattern. A rampant Juve and a passive Lazio. In the 51st minute a Deschamps header shaved the post. Two minutes later Roberto Baggio chipped a finally beaten Marchegiani but Paolo Negro was there to clear off the goal line.
There followed constant pressure, corners, crosses, scrambles. In the 62nd minute a spectacular volley by Vialli went close to the post. In the 68th minute Lazio crossed the halfway line but a Venturin shot was not dangerous. In the 71st minute Gian Carlo Marocchi hit the crossbar with a curling effort. Surely a goal would come soon.
It did but for Lazio.In the 72nd minute Roberto Di Matteo won a fifty-fifty challenge with Ferrara and coolly beat Rampulla with a low right foot. Juve 0 Lazio 1 but completely against the run of play.
Juve were in shock and their assault on the Lazio goal lost some of its strength despite bringing on Del Piero. They did however have two more opportunities to equalise but Marchegiani saved from "Pinturicchio" Del Piero and Marocchi's effort whistled wide of the post.
Juventus were groggy and unbalanced after attacking so much and Lazio took advantage. In the 90th minute a counter foot by Gigi Casiraghi was finished off by Boksic. 0-2 and Juve were finished.
In the 92nd minute things got worse for the "Zebras" as the Eagles swooped again (today they were more like vultures). Another counterattack by Boksic gave Venturin an open goal opportunity and he made it 0-3. An unbelievable score line considering the performances by the two teams.
Juventus had attacked for almost the entire game but imprecision, a bit of bad luck and above all an unbeatable Marchegiani had handed them a humiliating home defeat.
Lazio had not played a "Zemanlike" game but had resisted the onslaught, somehow coming out unscathed and then been incredibly clinical on the break.
Rarely has a score been so deceiving but Lazio were not complaining ... when would it happen again to beat Juventus 3-0 in Turin. Almost thirty years later it still has not.
Who played for Juventus
Rampulla, Ferrara, Jarni, Torricelli, Porrini, Paulo Sousa (74' Del Piero), Di Livio (65' Marocchi), Deschamps, Vialli, R. Baggio, Ravanelli
Substitutes: Squizzi, Fusi, Tacchinardi
Manager: Lippi
Who played for Lazio
Marchegiani, Negro, Nesta, Di Matteo, Bergodi, Chamot, Boksic, Fuser, Casiraghi, Winter, Signori (46' Venturin)
Manager: Zeman
Referee: Nicchi
Goals: 72' Di Matteo, 90' Boksic, 92' Venturin
Sources
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