ROME – Juventus beat Lazio 2-0 in the first leg of the semi-final of the Coppa Italia on Tuesday evening at the Allianz stadium, ending a month-long winning drought.

 The bianconeri got revenge for their last minute 1-0 defeat to Lazio on Sunday, only 72 hours after their loss to the Roman team, with a strong performance.

 The first half was uninspiring with neither team being able to break through the other’s defensive lines, despite attempts from each end. In the tenth minute, VAR overturned a penalty decision for Juventus, dulling the team’s play and resulting in Lazio pushing forward, however no goals were scored.

 The best chance came for Juventus in the first minute of added time, with a powerful strike from Adrien Rabiot, however he was denied from scoring by Christos Mandas.

 The Turin team were booed off by their fans at half time as the score remained 0-0.

 However, Juventus returned to the pitch revigorated and determined to play. Their breakthrough came in the 50^th minute thanks to a goal from Federico Chiesa, Juventus’s first goal in nearly 250 minutes of play.

 The bianconeri kept on pushing, Dusan Vlahovic scored in 64^th minute thanks to a cross from Weston McKennie, marking the first match since January that the Old Lady had won by two or more goals and the first match they won since Feb 25.

 The two teams will meet again the second leg of the semi-final, held in the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on April 23, with Juventus going into the match with a two goal advantage.

 khg