Game 13, Serie A
Sunday, December 6, 1998
Stadio Delle Alpi, Turin
Juventus Lazio 0-1
A fantastic goal by Salas nine minutes from time give Lazio an historic win
In Serie A Lazio were not doing well. They were just tenth in the company of Cagliari and Bari. The had suffered the injuries of Alessandro Nesta in defence and Christian Vieri in attack. A disappointing start with 3 wins, 5 draws and 3 defeats (but all in last 5 games). The most recent result had been a 3-3 thriller against Roma.
The match
A 45,000 crowd turned up in the "Città della Mole" on a grey, December afernoon.
Juventus had a debutant in goal, Morgan De Sanctis and were without Edgar Davids and Alessandro Del Piero while Lazio had Sinisa Mihajlovic out injured but to compensate had Alessandro Nesta back after five and a half months.
Juventus started on the front foot. The Bianconeri basically attacked for the whole first half but Nesta proved to be almost back at his best already. The Juventus forwards were always blocked and the hosts had to rely on attempts by their midfielders.
The "Zebre" had attempts by Antonio Conte deflected into corner, Alessandro Birindelli from the long range saved by Luca Marchegiani and then Jocelyn Blanchard wasted a good opportunity with a weak shot into the Lazio keeper's arms. A lot of pressure but few real chances. Lazio meanwhile had done absolutely nothing in attack. Half time Juventus 0 Lazio 0.
For the second period an injured Ciro Ferrara did not emerge again and was replaced by Mark Iuliano.
In the second half Juventus' pressure subsided and Lazio started to show their faces up front. Sergio Conceição blasted just over the bar after a clever back heel by Roberto Mancini and a soon after De Sanctis had to sprint off his line to anticipate Mancini after a bad Iuliano back pass.
In the 61st minute a poor Blanchard was replaced by a striker Nicola Amoruso while for Lazio in the 65th Ivan de la Peña came on for Mancini. In the 69th minute came a blow for Lazio as Pavel Nedved limped off with a knee injury (possibly meniscus) and replaced by Guerino Gottardi. In the 75th minute Paulo Fonseca came on for a subdued Filippo Inzaghi.
Juventus then had a big scoring opportunity in the 78th minute. From a Fonseca free kick from the left, Zinedine Zidane got a header in but Marchegiani did well to get down low and save.
In the 81st minute came the winner and it was for Lazio. Conceição crossed in from the right to Marcelo Salas on the far post, the Chilean chested the ball down, puhed it lightly past Iuliano and then poked it past De Sanctis. All in a fraction of a second and in the same movement, a brilliant goal. Juventus 0 Lazio 1.
Juventus were beaten and had nothing more to give. Nesta commanded the Lazio defence perfectly in the last ten minute plus injury time and the Biancocelesti clinched three precious points to sweep away the crisis and talk of sacking Sven-Goran Eriksson. Lazio moved up to joint 7th, only one point behind Juventus and Inter. A possible turning point of their season.
Juventus had tried hard in the first half but then faded. They had now gone six league games without a win, very un-Juventus like.
Who played for Juventus
De Sanctis, Birindelli, Ferrara (46' Iuliano), Montero, Pessotto, Blanchard (61' Amoruso), Conte, Deschamps, Di Livio, Inzaghi (75' Fonseca), Zidane
Substitutes: Peruzzi, Tudor, Tacchinardi, Perrotta
Manager: Lippi
Who played for Lazio
Marchegiani, Pancaro, Nesta, Negro, Favalli, Conceição, Stankovic (93' Venturin), Almeyda, Nedved (69' Gottardi), Salas, Mancini (65' De La Peña)
Manager: Eriksson
Referee: Borriello
Goal: 81' Salas
Sources
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