Juventus left it late in Udine as they claimed an all-important three points against a stubborn Udinese side at the Dacia Arena on Sunday evening. Despite trailing at half-time, the Bianconeri kept moving forward and eventually earned a valuable 2-1 victory to boost their Serie A top-four hopes.
Udinese took advantage of their first chance of the game as Nahuel Molina punished Juventus’ backline that fell asleep for a moment. Defensively robust as ever, the Friulians managed to keep the visitors at bay for a large portion of the first half, with Weston McKennie’s header before the half-hour mark Juve’s best chance before the break.
However, the Turin juggernauts picked themselves up after the interval and started to mount pressure on Luca Gotti’s side. Juventus again enjoyed most of the possession but struggled to trouble Udinese’s firmly-positioned defense.
And just when it all seemed lost for dethroned Juve, Cristiano Ronaldo stepped up and proved once again why many regard him as one of the best players ever. The 36-year-old converted a spot-kick in the 83rd minute after Rodrigo De Paul gave away a cheap penalty.
The Portugal captain stole the show with another classic header. Ronaldo ran behind his marker to get on the end of Adrien Rabiot’s inch-perfect cross and seal Juventus’ win.
The Bianconeri have regained their place inside the top-four and are now two points clear of fifth-placed Napoli, with four games left to go.
Despite overseeing his side stage a jaw-dropping late comeback, Leonardo Bonucci slammed Juventus’ overall performances this season.
“The season is still long. If we are happy with just these ten minutes, it means we have not understood anything. We are not managing to shift gear and keep it for the full game. That is the most difficult thing to understand,” the veteran defender said, as relayed by TUTTOmercatoWEB.
“Matches are decided by single episodes, and after so many games you need to pay attention to details and episodes. Too many times we lost points because of some details.
“This was a game we had to win, we didn’t struggle a lot, but it seemed we were always missing that bit of passion and heart to seal the victory.”
Bonucci maintains Juventus can only blame themselves for surrendering the league title to Inter.
“Today a cycle ended, and it was also because of us. Inter were the most consistent and showed to be the strongest. Today, a new chapter begins.”