Okoye’s heroics propel Udinese to a stunning victory over Juventus

Nigeria’s Maduka Okoye was impressive for Udinese between the sticks on Monday on Monday, February 12, helping the Seria A outfit to secure a shocking and vital 1-0 victory over Juventus at the Allianz Stadium.

In what appears to be his seventh league appearance this season, Okoye was called into action in the early minutes of the encounter, making a vital save to deny Federico Chiesa from the edge of the box.

A few minutes later, the 24-year-old saved Adrien Rabiot’s efforts, before Udinese through Lautaro Giannetti in the 25th minute leveraged a free kick to take the lead against the run of play at the Allianz Stadium.

Spurred by falling improbably short to Udinese at home, Juventus invested their efforts into getting an equalizer before the halftime break, but Okoye kept a tight lid for the away team, and even denied Arkadiusz Milik a close-range header three minutes away from the halftime whistle.

Massimiliano Allegri’s men did get an equalizer in the opening minutes of the second half, but the goal was disallowed after it was adjudged that the ball had gone out of play before it reached the penalty area.

Undeterred, Juventus continued to press for an equalizer, but Udinese thanks to a defence marshaled by Okoye held onto the lead and secured their first away win over the Bianconeri for the first time since 2015.

Man of the match Maduka Okoye, made six vital saves in total and eight recoveries, claiming back-to-back clean sheets and his third clean sheet in seven Serie A games

The victory propels Udinese out of the relegation zone to 16th on the log, while Juventus’s title hopes were dealt a huge blow, as they fell seven points behind table toppers Inter Milan.