Juventus lost the Supercoppa Italiana for the third time in four
seasons as Alessandro Murgia gave Lazio a stoppage-time triumph.
Alessandro
Murgia came off the bench to snatch Supercoppa Italiana glory as Lazio
secured a breathless 3-2 win over Juventus amid remarkable late drama at
the Stadio Olimpico.
The hosts, playing in the
showpiece by virtue of their 2-0 loss to Juve in May’s Coppa Italia
final, appeared to be cruising to victory by the same margin thanks to a
double from Ciro Immobile.
The one-time
Juventus youngster built upon 23 Serie A goals in his maiden season at
Lazio by winning and converting a first-half penalty and expertly
dispatching a header nine minutes after the interval.
Juventus
offered little sign of mustering a response until Paulo Dybala scored a
magnificent free-kick in the 85th minute and the Argentina forward
converted from 12 yards in stoppage time after Adam Marusic felled Alex
Sandro.
But two other Lazio substitutes would
give far more impressive accounts of themselves as Jordan Lukaku stormed
down the left flank and allowed Murgia to add a final twist, condemning
Juve to a third Supercoppa reverse in the past four seasons.
Juventus
laid siege to the Lazio area during the early stages, Thomas Strakosha
keeping out Juan Cuadrado’s close-range attempt with his legs when he
should have had no chance to prevent a goal from Alex Sandro’s cutback.
It
proved an eventful opening for the Albania goalkeeper, who got down
sharply to deny Dybala and Gonzalo Higuain, and Lazio rewarded him by
gaining a foothold in the contest.
Giorgio
Chiellini – playing without his old ally Leonardo Bonucci in the
Juventus defence – made a brilliant last-ditch tackle to thwart Immobile
but the same player sprung the Serie A champions’ backline in the 31st
minute and was brought down by Gianluigi Buffon.
The booked veteran goalkeeper guessed correctly but could not get close to Immobile’s well-struck effort.
Buffon
was soon back in the action as Dusan Basta drilled an effort at him
from Sergej Milinkovic-Savic’s clever flick before Lucas Leiva sought a
rare goal with a fierce long-ranger that was tipped over the bar.
Cuadrado,
who was on the receiving end of a robust tackle from Lucas before
half-time, saw a shot blocked shortly after the restart but Lazio
doubled their lead in the 54th minute.
The Juve
backline had lost its shape by the time Marco Parolo floated a cross to
the far post and Immobile headed back across Buffon and in.
Immobile
might have claimed the matchball when Senad Lulic played him through
with an hour played but Buffon sprawled effectively at the forward’s
feet.
Miralem Pjanic’s radar was unusually awry
from a promising free-kick situation and Higuain prodded wide from
substitute Douglas Costa’s cross as the game entered its final quarter.
Buffon had to turn away a stinging Luis Alberto attempt before Dybala showed Pjanic how it was done from 25 yards.
The
23-year-old’s viciously swerving strike shattered Lazio’s previous calm
and Marusic’s foul on Alex Sandro was clumsy in the extreme as Dybala
converted easily to have seemingly forced extra time.
Sensing
their moment slipping by, the hosts released Lukaku to storm down the
left flank. Mattia De Sciglio’s desperate slide tackle could not contain
the Belgian and Murgia steered unerringly past Buffon to spark wild
celebrations.
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