TURIN, Italy (AP) — Losing at Serie A leader Inter Milan can be forgiven, a defeat at home to relegation-threatened Udinese less so.
Juventus was booed off the field by its fans on Monday after a 1-0 loss at home to Udinese left its title hopes in tatters.
Massimiliano Allegri’s side, which lost 1-0 at league leader Inter Milan last week, stayed seven points behind the Nerazzurri, who also have a game in hand. Juventus is only one point above third-place AC Milan.
Lautaro Giannetti’s first Serie A goal was enough to hand Udinese only its second win in 14 matches and lift it three points above the drop zone. Juventus forward Arkadiusz Milik missed a number of gilt-edged chances to equalize and also had a goal disallowed.
Milik was returning from a suspension and started in place of in-form forward Dušan Vlahović, who was out with a muscle problem.
Juventus started brightly but it was Udinese which took the lead in the 25th minute. Thomas Kristensen nodded on Lazar Samardžić’s free kick and Juventus defender Alex Sandro’s attempted clearance was straight at Giannetti, who fired it in from close range.
Milik could have leveled almost immediately but he mishit a cross and sent it woefully wide of the target from point blank range. The Poland forward headed another cross straight at Udinese goalkeeper Maduka Okoye shortly before halftime.
Juventus was jeered off the field at the break, and matters didn’t improve much after the break.
Milik did get the ball in the back of the net in the 58th minute after Adrien Rabiot had nodded on a corner but it was ruled out as Federico Chiesa’s corner delivery had crossed the byline.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/Soccer
Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
