Juventus vs Lazio - Lazio Fades to Black
It was a tense game at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. Lazio started the game with an impressive home game record not having lost at home all season … till now. It was an odd game to say the least, Keeping true to the duality of black and white, the game was end to end, yet lacking clear chances from both teams. Despite lacking the clear chances, it was a game you couldn't take your eyes off as a goal felt imminent from both sides with every passing minute. In this match (Szczesny: 6) had very little to do, actually the most pressure he felt all game was when Locatelli put him under pressure with a horrific back pass that could have changed the game with a goal in the first half. From there on out it was in one other instance when the giant Slav Milinkovic-Savic shot a rifle shot of a distance shot only to have it parried. De Ligt: 6.5, Kept good concentration all game and kept Milinkovic-Savic under control when he took on the ST role. Danilo: N/A, Subbed off early due to injury; (15′Sub - Kulusevski: 5) was largely invisible all match, provided very little attacking outlet, he did less for the remainder of the game than what Cuadrado had done in the opening 15'. Rabiot: 5, another player who did nothing all game and you could hardly tell was on the pitch. a game to forget, i would have loved to see Arthur instead. Locatelli: 5.5, good passing distribution throughout the game, did his job well, .. well except for that one play where he dangerously back passed to Szczesny, it didn’t cause a goal, but in any other game it could off, still an error that shouldn't happen; (89′Sub - Bentancur: N/A), not enough time on the pitch to do anything really. McKennie: 6, McKennie looked much improved defensively this game, spent most of it harassing lazio midfielders in the middle, did his job well in gelling oftentimes with Cuadrado/Kulu on the front foot. Cuadrado 6.5, A Classic performance from Cuadrado, defensively solid, and great on the attacking front with his trickery and directness, was more of a threat than Kulu even after having moved to RB. Morata: 5.5, Outside from being the chosen one to eat the tackle that led to a penalty, he didn't do much. Juventus actually looked far more dangerous in the final 18min of the game when Morata got subbed off; (74′Sub - Kean 6), in 18 minutes he managed to do more than Morata all game, why Morata keeps starting ahead of Kean is beyond me, Kean showed pace and strength, and earned himself to scoring opportunities his finishing was off, but that's another story. Chiesa: 6, didn’t play badly, but didn’t play necessarily well either, he more so than not looked frustrated and out of sorts. While Chiesa couldn't influence the game he did come close to something special in the first half where he was alone against the world with 5 defenders around him, and Chiesa looking to pull the trigger towards goal.
