Juventus lose at home to Udinese via Cyril Thereau winner

Updated: May 17, 2023, 06:14 am

Defending champions Juventus suffered a shock 1-0 home defeat to Udinese in their Serie A opener on Sunday.

Cyril Thereau scored the only goal of the game with what was Udinese's first shot on target in the 78th minute, and Juve could not respond.

It was Juve's first home league loss since January 2013 and only the sixth time in 48 games since that defeat that they have even dropped points in front of their own fans.

The result at the Juventus stadium failed to reflect the home side's dominance, though.

Last season's Champions League runners-up controlled possession and had five shots on goal but could not find a way past Udinese goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis.

Udinese, under new coach Stefano Colantuono, failed to test Juve stopper Gianluigi Buffon until Thereau beat the Italian veteran when the Frenchman was left unmarked to tap in Panagiotis Kone's cross.

Cyril Thereau celebrates after scoring what proved to be the winner.
Alessandro Di Marco/ANSA via AP

New Juve signing Mario Mandzukic was handed his Serie A debut, playing alongside Kingsley Coman in attack from the start.

Juve had the first chance in the 20th minute, Roberto Pereyra's left-footed attempt from inside the area kept out by Karnezis.

Shortly after, Pereyra fed Stephan Lichtsteiner inside the box and his right-footed shot from 10 yards was also saved by Karnezis.

The home side continued to press forward and Mandzukic headed Lichsteiner's dangerous cross just over the bar in what was the last chance of the opening half.

Juve picked up where they left off after the re-start and in the 52nd minute, Paul Pogba was unable to find the target with a long-range effort.

Before the hour, Coman spotted Simone Padoin in the box but the Italian midfielder's powerful shot did not trouble Karnezis.

In the 65th minute, Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri brought in another of his new signings, Paulo Dybala, to replace Coman up front.

However, it was Manduzkic that had the best chance four minutes later but the Croatia forward's close-range header from Patrice Evra's cross went wide.

Then, against the run of play, Juve fell behind when the unmarked Thereau punished the hosts, and Udinese held on for the final 12 minutes to record a famous win.