Late Pepe show floors ten-man Lazio
Monday, May 2, 2011
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Simone Pepe's goal three minutes from time dented the UEFA Champions League ambitions of ten-man S.S.Lazio as they fell to a 1-0 defeat by Juventus at the Stadio Olimpico.
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Simone Pepe's goal three minutes from time dented the UEFA Champions League ambitions of ten-man S.S.Lazio as they fell to a 1-0 defeat by Juventus at the Stadio Olimpico. Juventus's success lifts them to within four points of Lazio, who, though fourth, lie just a point above AS Roma and Udinese Calcio.
Lazio attacked for most of the first half and created good opportunities to score through Cristian Brocchi and Sergio Floccari. The midfielder sent a header just wide, while Floccari's left-foot effort forced a fine save out of Gianluigi Buffon. Just before the interval, however, the visitors went close when Alessandro Matri broke through on to a long ball by Alessandro Del Piero but failed to beat the outrushing Fernando Muslera.
The second half followed a similar pattern to the first with Lazio continuing to push for victory. Brocchi fired over from inside the penalty box, while Buffon was called into action to turn away a powerful shot by Hernanes from 25 metres. Nine minutes from time, however, Lazio lost midfielder Cristian Ledesma to a second bookable offence and Juventus capitalised when Pepe turned in a cross by Del Piero with the help of a Lionel Scaloni deflection.
