Juventus ride on Morata's brace, beat Lazio 3-1: Records broken
An incredible brace from Alvaro Morata helped Juventus beat Lazio 3-1 in Serie A on Saturday. Juve came from behind after Lazio took the lead early on. They are now one point behind second-ranked AC Milan on the points table. Meanwhile, a third defeat in four league games has dented the top-four hopes of Lazio. Here are the records broken.
How did the match pan out?
With Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench, Juventus struggled to create any chances of scoring initially. Meanwhile, Joaquín Correa scored the opener for Lazio in the 14th minute. Shortly before the half-time, Adrien Rabiot restored parity with the equalizer. Juventus were on the money in the second half as Morata scored two back-to-back goals. As a result, the home side won the fixture 3-1.
Juve maintain dominance over Lazio, struggle in first half
Juventus have won seven of their last eight games at home against Lazio in the Serie A. They lost one game during the period. Notably, Juve have an aggregate score of 19-5 against Lazio. As per Opta, Juventus have conceded five goals in the first 15 minutes of this Serie A season. They conceded a total of two in the whole previous season.
Morata has been on a roll
Morata played a pivotal role as Juventus staged a terrific comeback in the second half. He has now been involved in 15 goals in this Serie A season, his personal-best record in the Italian top-flight (seven goals, eight assists).
Why was Ronaldo benched?
After the match, Juventus coach Andrea Pirlo explained why Ronaldo was on the bench initially. "He came from eight or nine consecutive games, we made an agreement during the week [for Ronaldo to be rested], it was already planned," he said. "Cristiano is an added value, the boys have done what they had to do tonight without him."
