Lazio 4 -1 Juventus
Nedved 23', 65' (L), Crespo 46', 81' (L), Del Piero 59' (J)
Sunday 18 Mar 2001
At the Olympic stadium Juventus suffered their first defeat of the return matches in the championship. The home inflicted a convincing 4-1 defeat through doubles by Nedved and Crespo. Del Piero�s goal was worthless as Juve finished the game in nine men after both Davids and Trezeguet had been shown the red card.
Both teams started the game cagily with neither team giving anything away. During the initial stages Juventus appeared to have something more than the home side, but were unable to turn their superiority into goals. It was Lazio, who in the space of three minutes went the closest to scoring. First through Veron from a free kick, then Nedved who went wide from a good position and finally Simeone who headed over the bar from close range. Juventus replied when Del Piero tested his ex team mate Peruzzi from a free kick.
The deadlock was broken in the 22nd minute, when Poborsky went down the right, played the ball into Crespo who played it into the middle for Nedved who made no mistake in beating Van der Sar. This goal breaks the unbeaten run which Van der Sar has had for 459 minutes. Juventus immediately counter attacked with Conte (playing this evening instead of Zambrotta) taking advantage of a slip in the Lazio defence. His well struck effort was goal bound, but was saved on the line by Nesta. Moments later, both Zidane and Inzaghi went close on two occasions, but without any luck.
Ancelotti made several changes with Conte and Inzaghi being replaced by Zambrotta and Trezeguet. The second half had just got under way when Lazio scored again. Veron, free on the right, set up Crespo who fired home beating Van der Sar.
Behind by two goals Juventus started pushing forward, with Trezeguet hitting the upright. Zidane was in evidence and along with Del Piero were testing the Lazio defence, however just as they were beginning to get the better of the Lazio�s defence, Davids was sent off by referee Collina. Seconds after Davids� being given the red card, Juventus pulled one back through Del Piero who beat Peruzzi from inside the box.
Del Piero was in fine form and minutes later was back in defence to prevent a threatening move from Lazio. Juventus were being stretched and it wasn�t long before Lazio increased their lead through Nedved, his second goal of the night.
Ancelotti made further changes; taking off Tachinardi and replacing him with O�Neill. As Juventus continued to press forward looking to pull a goal back, their defence was becoming more and more exposed. It wasn�t long before Lazio scored their fourth goal of the night through Crespo, his second of the evening. The last minutes of the game were played out with Juventus in nine men after Trezeguet had been sent off by Collina. It just wasn�t their night.
Yellow Cards:
Lazio - Pancaro 47', Poborsky 70'
Juventus - Davids 28', Davids 58'
Red Cards:
Juventus - Davids 58' (two yellows), Trezeguet 89'
Lazio (4-5-1): Peruzzi; Colonnese (42' Pesaresi), Nesta, Negro, Pancaro; Poborsky (79' Castroman), Baggio, Veron(76th Stankovic), Simeone, Nedved; Crespo
Subs - Marchegiani, Pesaresi, Stankovic, Baronio, Castroman, Ravanelli, Lopez
Juventus (4-3-1-2): Van der Sar; Birindelli, Tudor, Montero, Pessotto; Conte(46th Zambrotta), Tacchinardi(68th O'Neill), Davids; Zidane; Inzaghi(46th Trezeguet), Del Piero
Subs - Belardi, Jiranek, Mozart, Bernini, Veron, Da Costa, Marazzina
Referee: Collina
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