Paulo Dybala lit up Juventus with a brace and an assist for Gonzalo Higuain, while Douglas Costa converted a penalty to smash Udinese 4-0 in the Coppa Italia.
Maurizio Sarri’s men go on to face either Roma or Parma in the Quarter-Final on January 22.
Paulo Dybala lit up Juventus with a brace and an assist for Gonzalo Higuain, while Douglas Costa converted a penalty to smash Udinese 4-0 in the Coppa Italia.
Maurizio Sarri’s men go on to face either Roma or Parma in the Quarter-Final on January 22.
The Bianconeri made eight changes from their weekend victory over Cagliari, as Cristiano Ronaldo was suffering from a bout of sinusitis, Merih Demiral was ruled out for six to seven months by a knee injury, so Matthijs de Ligt and Daniele Rugani returned with Douglas Costa as a trequartista. Rodrigo Bentancur was available, as his ban only applies to Serie A.
Nicolas Opoku made a decisive sliding tackle on Gonzalo Higuain, who had been sent clear by Paulo Dybala, then Pipita’s acrobatic volley was off target.
The two Argentines completed a remarkable duet to open the scoring, exchanging three consecutive one-two passes to tear the defence apart, Pipita finishing it off one-on-one with Nicolas.
Federico Bernardeschi went looking for a penalty and got it, as Nicolas came out clumsily to gather an over-hit pass. Dybala added to his assist by converting his spot-kick into the near bottom corner.
It could’ve been 3-0, but a Bentancur scorcher from distance was fingertipped on to the upright by Nicolas.
Juve thought they had got a third on 55 minutes. A first shot was charged down, turned into an accidental assist for De Ligt to test Nicolas, then Higuain was marginally offside to tap in the rebound.
It was a mere warning, as moments later Dybala – on a Higuain assist – curled a stunner into the far top corner from just inside the box with his wand of a left boot.
Juve were then awarded a penalty for Bram Nuytinck’s handball, as it bounced off his chest first, but his hand was raised. Douglas Costa converted to get on the scoresheet, as Dybala left it to the Brazilian, knowing he was about to be substituted.
Higuain and Dybala combined again to force a save from Nicolas, while Marko Pjaca made his first appearance of the season. Rugani should’ve made it 5-0, his header from a Bernardeschi free kick bouncing off the upright.
Juventus 4-0 Udinese
Higuain 16 (J), Dybala pen 26, 57 (J), Douglas Costa pen 61 (J)
Juventus: Buffon; Danilo, De Ligt, Rugani, Alex Sandro; Bentancur, Rabiot (Ramsey 70), Bernardeschi; Douglas Costa (Cuadrado 63); Higuain, Dybala (Pjaca 75)
Udinese: Nicolas; Opoku, De Maio, Nuytinck; Ter-Avest, Barak, Jajalo, Walace (Fofana 76), Sema (Stryger-Larsen 62); Nestorovski, Teodorczyk (Lasagna 46)
Ref: Aureliano
Strike partner goals!
Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala exchange THREE consecutive one-twos before the senior Argentine slots home for Juventus!
What a goal! pic.twitter.com/Lg6ekgm4Ag
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) January 15, 2020