Morata double helps Andrea Pirlo’s men keep title hopes alive
Two goals from Alvaro Morata helped Juventus come from behind to beat Lazio 3-1 in Serie A on Saturday, closing the gap on leaders Inter Milan to seven points.
Joaquin Correa capitalised on an underhit backpass from Juve’s Dejan Kulusevski before finishing well to give the visitors a surprise 14th-minute lead.
With Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench, the champions struggled to create any real openings until Adrien Rabiot scored a rare Serie A goal, firing into the roof of the net from a tight angle six minutes before the break to level.
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic almost put Lazio back ahead but was denied by the crossbar, and Juve capitalised by edging ahead through a fine Morata finish in the 57th minute.
Three minutes later, Morata slotted home from the penalty spot after Aaron Ramsey had been fouled to make sure of a win that moved Juve on to 52 points, one behind AC Milan.
A third defeat in four league games dented Lazio’s top-four hopes, with Simone Inzaghi’s men down in seventh on 43 points, six behind fourth-placed Atalanta.
‘We put in a great performance, but only after conceding the opening goal, which was a mistake. We proved that we have heart, grit and I think we’ll battle to the end if we play like this,’ Juventus’ Federico Chiesa said after the game.
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‘The draw with Verona was harsh, it was all about details, well we were really determined this evening and gave a strong response.
‘Lazio have shown themselves to be a great team, always in the fight for the top four, so it was a big game. Having said that, they are all big if we want to win the Scudetto.