Juventus missed a chance to clinch their ninth successive Serie A title as they succumbed to a shock 2-1 loss to Udinese on Thursday.
Inter’s goalless draw with Fiorentina on Wednesday opened the door for Juve to secure the Scudetto with a win at the Dacia Arena but they were unable to oblige.
Matthijs de Ligt put the Bianconeri on the path to glory towards the end of a tepid first half before Ilija Nestorovski’s excellent diving header restored parity in the 52nd minute.
Juve pushed for a winner but Seko Fofana’s brilliant stoppage-time finish at the end of a lung-busting run ensured the champagne was kept on ice for Maurizio Sarri’s men.
Udinese went close to getting the opener in the eighth minute but the post stopped Danilo heading Ken Sema’s cross into his own net.
Juan Musso stopped Bram Nuytinck scoring a bizarre own goal with a misjudged back pass and from the resulting corner the Udinese goalkeeper produced a good save to keep out Paulo Dybala’s volley.
Rodrigo de Paul had a penalty appeal ignored and De Ligt put Juve in front when he controlled William Troost-Ekong’s headed clearance and arrowed it into the bottom-left corner in the 42nd minute.
Udinese improved in the second half and restored parity seven minutes after the restart, Sema picking out an unmarked Nestorovski for a fine finish at the back post.
A curling effort from Dybala – Juve’s first shot on target in the second half – was held well by Musso in the 62nd minute, while the hosts remained game in their bid to snatch the three points that would boost their survival hopes.
They got them when Fofana outmuscled De Ligt and slotted home in the 92nd minute, with Juve left to reflect on a surprise defeat.
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