Coppa Italia | Juventus 2-0 Udinese: Locatelli books quarter-final spot
Juventus comfortably secured their spot in the Coppa Italia quarter-finals thanks to a 2-0 victory over Udinese at the Allianz Stadium on Tuesday evening: An own goal from the 17-year-old Matteo Palma and a penalty from Manuel Locatelli sending them through.
The Bianconeri were without Dusan Vlahovic, who is expected to miss anywhere from three to five months as the result of a serious adductor injury. Mattia Perin, Gleison Bremer, Daniele Rugani, Carlo Pinsoglio and Arkadiusz Milik were also unavailable on Tuesday night. Udinese, who had already beaten Carrarese and Palermo to qualify for the Coppa Italia round of 16, travelled without Thomas Kristensen or Hassane Kamara, but did name Nicolo Zaniolo as a starter.
You can see how the action unfolded on the Football Italia Liveblog.
The Bianconeri started brightly and won a series of five corners in as many minutes during the opening quarter of an hour. Yildiz briefly troubled Razvan Sava early on with a trademark shot off the left, and then another that went just wide of the post from just to the right of centre on the edge of the area.
Juventus capitalised on their early dominance in the 23rd minute when Weston McKennie burst down the right flank and provided a low cross into the centre. Jonathan David initially looked to have bundled it into the back of the net with his first touch, but replays showed it was in fact an own goal from the challenging Palma.
Kingsley Ehizibue had the ball in the back of the net after half an hour: It was a brilliant little dink over Michele Di Gregorio after a ball over the top, but he was offside in the build-up and the flag was eventually raised.
Then it was David’s turn to have an impressive finish ruled out. He smashed one into the roof of the net from a ridiculous angle, practically on the byline, but he was also fractionally offside in the build-up. He might have felt that he should have had two already by this point.
Spalletti was forced into a change at the back 10 minutes into the second half, when Gatti looked to have tweaked something in his hamstring. The Italian was helped off and replaced by Locatelli.
The Bianconeri second came midway through the half: The unfortunate Palma involved again. The youngster clipped Cabal just as the Colombian had aimed a ball into the centre of the area. A lengthy VAR review was required, but eventually a penalty was awarded.
Locatelli converted coolly, sticking it straight down the middle as Sava dove for the corner.
Juventus continued to push for a third right until the end, and saw two Francisco Coneicao shots smothered in the area in the final few minutes of regular time.
Lois Openda, on as a second-half substitute, had another Bianconeri goal chalked off in the penultimate minute of stoppage time. He had combined brilliantly with Joao Mario on the right flank, playing a one-two before applying a first-time finish from 10 yards out, but his Portuguese partner was, again, offisde in the build-up.
Safely through to the quarter finals, Juventus will go on to face either Atalanta or Genoa in the quarter-finals on February 4.
Juventus 2-0 Udinese
Palma (OG) 23′, Locatelli 68′.