Juventus made to wait for ninth straight title as Udinese strike late winner

SourceEurosport

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Juventus have to keep their champagne on ice until Sunday at least after being stunned 2-1 by struggling Udinese.

Despite taking just three points from their last possible 12, Maurizio Sarri’s side needed only one more victory to secure a ninth consecutive Serie A title – with three games to spare.

Matthijs de Ligt gave Juve lift-off, breaking the deadlock three minutes before the interval with a powerful low effort from 25 yards with his fourth goal of the season.

But the relegation-threatened hosts found their deserved equaliser in style seven minutes after the restart through Iljia Nestorovski’s bullet header from a delightful Ken Sema cross.

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It was no less than Udinese deserved, as they were denied by the woodwork early on, with Danilo’s attempted headed clearance crashing off his own woodwork early on. They also had a strong case for a penalty waved away as Rodrigo De Paul went tumbling inside the box under pressure from Aaron Ramsey.

And the winner eventually came late on when Seko Fofana netted in the second minute of stoppage-time, nutmegging de Ligt before sliding it under Wojciech Szczesny, as Juve fell to a fifth defeat of the campaign.

Once again Sarri’s men failed to meet the high standards demanded by the Old Lady, but they can clinch their 36th league title with a triumph over Sampdoria on Sunday. A draw will be enough if Inter fail to beat Genoa on Saturday.