Football Directa :::: Alberto Zaccheroni Debut Without A Win

January 31, 2010Comments (0) |Print Story | Send To Friend

Alberto Zaccheroni Debut Without A Win

Juventus' new coach Alberto Zaccheroni was denied an opening victory by Lazio's Stefano Mauri as the Bianconeri had to settle for a 1-1 Serie A draw in Turin.

Alessandro Del Piero's second half penalty looked set to give the new gaffer a dream start, but Mauri turned in Mauro Zarate's cross to level things up 12 minutes from time.

Lazio started with Julio Cruz in attack, with Tommaso Rocchi consigned to the bench, whilst coach Zaccheroni chose not to err from former coach Ciro Ferrara's 4-3-1-2 system.

It was a predictably nervous start from the two sides, with Lazio needing to put distance between themselves and the drop zone, whilst the Bianconeri were hoping to start their new era with improved form. The only real opportunity of the opening 10 minutes fell to Alessandro Del Piero, who fired straight at Muslera.

Del Piero then had a further opportunity when Antonio Candreva found him in space close to the bye-line on the right of goal, but his bullet shot flew over the bar from a narrow angle. That was part of a wave of pressure from the hosts, as they penned Lazio back for much of the opening stages.

Del Piero almost turned provider for Momo Sissoko when he played the second pass of a neat one-two for the Malian, who was dispossessed just in time by Stefan Radu. Sissoko then came close again when Diego fired in a meaty effort which Muslera parried and the midfielder narrowly failed to beat Guglielmo Stendardo to the rebound.

Lazio made their first real half-chance after half an hour, but after Mobido Diakite forced a free-kick from Felipe Melo, Aleksandar Kolarov drove the set piece disastrously high and wide. Moments later Diakite went on a similar burst forward and was brought down once more by Melo, who was shown a yellow card for his troubles.

Juventus had a dangerous looking free-kick of their own on 38 minutes, which Diego swung over the glancing head of Fabio Cannavaro and into the arms of a thankful Muslera. But Lazio immediately broke upfield and made a chance of their own, as Kolarov cut the ball back for the left foot of Stefano Mauri, whose shot was heading for the far bottom corner until Alex Manninger intervened with a smart diving save.

The first half had been a real story of set pieces, and it was from a left wing corner that Candreva could have given Juve the lead on the stroke of half-time. The flag-kick was half cleared, dropping for the new recruit 25 yards from goal, but his right footed effort cleared the crossbar and the teams went in level.

Lazio came out with more purpose in the early moments of the second period, and Sissoko's name was taken by referee Saccani after he brought down Kolarov in the middle of a fine solo run through the centre.

But it wasn't long before Juve were back on the attack, and Antonio Candreva unleashed a swinging 20-yard effort towards Muslera's bottom corner, which the Uruguayan did well to get down to and make the save.

The home side then produced the best moment of the match, and it was a piece of individual magic from Diego. With seemingly nothing on 20 yards from goal, the Brazilian fired in a left foot shot with little backlift which cannoned off the outside of Muslera's near post, leaving Lazio to breathe a huge sigh of relief.

The Bianconeri soon managed to build up a spell of pressure, and Paolo De Ceglie stood up an excellent cross for the head of Sissoko eight yards from goal, but the Malian couldn't direct his effort on target under pressure.

The breakthrough came in the 69^th minute when Candreva chipped in a clever cross, Amauri flicked on and Del Piero turned superbly. But as the skipper shaped up to shoot left-footed he was brushed by Diakite, and the referee saw the contact fit enough to reward the Bianconeri a penalty. Del Piero picked himself up and fired low to Muslera's left, sending the keeper the wrong way and giving Juventus the lead.

As the two coaches looked to make changes and the pace seemingly gone from the game, proceedings suddenly came alive once more as Lazio scored a shock equaliser.

Roberto Baronio's right wing free-kick was half cleared by Amauri, but Zarate was able to chip the ball back into the box, and Mauri beat Zdenek Grygera to the ball on the slide and managed to poke the ball past Alex Manninger's dive.

Mauri picked up a head wound in celebrating his goal and was replaced by Sebastiano Siviglia as a result, with coach Davide Ballardini seemingly bracing his side for an Alamo-style attack from the home side.

The siege came thick and fast from the home side, but they just couldn't force a clear goalscoring opportunity, and their efforts became more and more frantic as time ran out.

Michele Paolucci was introduced by Zaccheroni in place of Del Piero late on, but he was unable to help his new boss picked up the much sought after three points.

Diego of Juventus FC is challenged by Fabio Firmani (L) and Stefano Mauri (R) of Lazio

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