Juventus managed to come away with a 1-0 win away to Lazio in the scorching heat at the Stadio Olimpico courtesy of another Sami Khedira goal.
Both sides clearly struggled to deal with the heat with passes often going astray and clumsy challenges dictating majority of the match. It took a moment of individual magic from Sami Khedira on the 66th minute to rescue the Bianconeri from a draw against a resilient Lazio – the German latched onto Paulo Dybala’s brilliant ball to send a low shot past Federico Marchetti into the back of the net.
Resilient Lazio didn’t provide enough of an attacking threat
Simone Inzaghi’s men held Juve for over an hour with possession even for most of the game and chances at a premium. While Ciro Immobile put in a solid shift working hard as the lone striker in 35+ degree heat, the Biancocelesti didn’t really look like scoring. Immobile’s footwork troubled the Juve defence at times but he wasn’t given much support with Felipe Anderson having a shocker and Senad Lulic struggling to cope with Alex Sandro and Giorgio Chiellini.
.@SamiKhedira's last 22 matches:
WDWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW 👏💪😉 pic.twitter.com/hXmHC8D26O
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) August 27, 2016
Sami Khedira providing the breakthrough, again
Despite his mountain of injuries, Sami Khedira remains an unbelievably consistent performer for Juventus.
The 29-year-old has enjoyed a stellar start to the new campaign, scoring the opening goals in both fixtures so far this season. With key midfielder Claudio Marchisio out injured for at least another two months and Miralem Pjanic still adjusting to life in Turin, Khedira’s performances in midfield have been vital.
No sighting of Miralem Pjanic
The Bosnian has sat on the bench throughout the 90 minutes in both fixtures this season with Massimiliano Allegri relying on more experienced squad members Kwadwo Asamoah and Mario Lemina to guide Juve through their opening two matches.
Pjanic is definitely good enough to start and will be a crucial member to the squad this season, right now though Allegri is letting him earn his stripes. Juve’s current midfield three didn’t have the best game in terms of creating chances and pushing the side forward, however, they did provide plenty of industry and all three proved reliable lasting the entire 90 minutes in the heat managing to grind out a win against a tired Lazio.
What are your thoughts? Let us know by dropping a comment below via our Facebook comment box. Make sure you follow us on Twitter @Outside90 and like us on Facebook.
