Udinese 0-1 Juventus: Chiesa strikes but Bianconeri miss out on top-six Serie A finish

After Paulo Dybala's late penalty helped Roma to a 2-1 victory over Spezia, Massimiliano Allegri's side were unable to leapfrog the Giallorossi and were forced to settle for a seventh.

Chiesa's second-half strike was the difference for Juve, who were deducted 10 points for violating financial rules earlier in a rollercoaster campaign, but they suffered their lowest top-flight finish for 12 years.

Meanwhile, Udinese finished 12th in the league following their 10th defeat in 12 meetings with the Old Lady.

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— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) June 4, 2023

Udinese had lost their last three but went close after just four minutes when Beto somehow headed Florian Thauvin's cross over from inside the six-yard box.

Federico Chiesa’s deflected effort hit the side-netting before Juve saw a headed opportunity go begging as Leonardo Bonucci nodded against the crossbar from seven yards out following Arkadiusz Milik's flick-on.

Chiesa continued to cause Udinese problems down the left flank, yet the sides headed into half-time goalless after a profligate showing from both teams.

Juve squandered a great chance to break the deadlock just after the hour mark, Adrien Rabiot firing wide despite being found by Milik in acres of space inside the box.

But the visitors eventually opened the scoring in the 68th minute, Chiesa receiving the ball from Manuel Locatelli before bending a brilliant shot into the bottom-right corner.

Locatelli and Angel Di Maria went close to extending the advantage and though the single goal was enough, former Juve forward Dybala was to snatch sixth place for Roma from under his old club's nose.

Juventus did what they could by claiming maximum points at Dacia Arena, where they have lost just once in 13 Serie A visits.

Sixth place appeared to be the Bianconeri's until the dying moments of regulation time at Roma, when Juve's former favourite Dybala condemned them to Europa Conference League football next season.

The only goal of the game was a well-taken one as Chiesa brilliantly curled into the far corner from inside the area.

That came from a game-high four attempts by the winger, who also led the way with three good crosses.

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Although he had only scored once in 10 games, Milik had netted in three of his last five Serie A games against Udinese.

However, he was unable to maintain that solid streak here, with his tallies of touches (16) and passes (nine) the lowest recorded by any starting Juve player.