Seko Fofana scored the winner as Juventus fell to a shock 2-1 defeat at struggling Udinese on Thursday to overlook the possibility to seal the Serie A title for the ninth time in a row. Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt had put the defending champions forward three minutes earlier than the break in Udine. However a diving Ilija Nestorovski header seven minutes after the interval received Udinese stage, with Fofana finishing a comeback for the north-eastern aspect in damage time. Juventus stay six factors forward of second-placed Atalanta with three video games left to play, and have one other probability to seal the title for the 36th time on the pitch at house towards 14th-placed Sampdoria on Sunday.
Maurizio Sarri’s aspect want simply three extra factors and the coronation might even come on Saturday, relying on the outcomes of their rivals Atalanta and Inter Milan, who play AC Milan and Genoa respectively.
“We paid for a scarcity of order after first half as a result of we needed to win in any respect prices,” mentioned Sarri.
“On this method we took the sport to a harmful stage, and after the 90th minute, we misplaced it.”
The coach added: “On this interval we’re bodily and mentally drained.”
Juventus’s efficiency towards the minnows from Udine, near the border with Slovenia, was worrying forward of their crunch Champions League final 16 sport towards Lyon on August 7.
“In the mean time I’m not enthusiastic about the Champions League, in my thoughts there’s solely Sampdoria,” added Sarri.
The sport began with a careless header from Danilo, which nearly resulted in an personal aim earlier than bouncing off Wojciech Szczesny’s submit.
Udinese keeper Juan Musso denied Paulo Dybala — who was carrying the Juventus captain’s armband — after 13 minutes with Cristiano Ronaldo’s long-range effort large earlier than De Ligt broke by means of, smashing in after 42 minutes.
Again after the break, Nestorovski took benefit of an Alex Sandro error to equalise, getting his head to a cross from on-loan Watford midfielder Ken Sema to beat Szczesny.
And two minutes into stoppage time, Ivorian worldwide Fofana capped a stable match by getting the higher of De Ligt to all however guarantee Udinese of staying in Serie A along with his third aim this season.
It was a valuable three factors for Udinese who transfer as much as 15th place, seven factors away from the relegation zone.
“Juventus needed to win the championship, however we had an awesome sport,” mentioned Fofana.
“We mentioned beforehand that (relegation rivals) Lecce have been going robust and we needed to push ahead.”
Lazio got here from a aim all the way down to defeat Cagliari 2-1 to maneuver to inside a degree of third-placed Inter Milan.
Sergey Milinkovic-Savic received Lazio again into the sport simply after the break with Ciro Motionless connecting with a Luis Alberto cross for the winner after an hour in Sardinia.
It was Motionless’s 31st aim this season and strikes the Italian again forward of Ronaldo within the battle for the highest Serie A scorer this season.
Promoted
Simone Inzaghi’s aspect ended their five-match winless run with a victory which leaves them with a slim probability of successful the title, as they sit eight factors behind Juventus.
The Roman membership are, nonetheless, assured of enjoying within the Champions League subsequent season.
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