Juventus' Reliance on Paulo Dybala Once Again Evident in Serie A Win over Lazio

Friday night saw Juventus travel to Rome for their latest Serie A outing, the defending champions taking on Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico. They added to their recent run of good results, notching a comfortable 2-0 victory over the Biancocelesti, who never posed any real threat.

This latest loss—Lazio's sixth match without a win—is likely to see coach Stefano Pioli's job come under intense scrutiny but also highlighted a continuing issue for the visitors despite the easy nature with which they despatched the capital club.

MARCO BERTORELLO/Getty Images

Once again, the Turin giants found themselves relying on Paulo Dybala's attacking prowess to secure all three points. The Argentinian striker made his first telling contribution after just seven minutes.

A strong run from Alex Sandro down the left saw the ball eventually land at his feet, which he crashed toward goal.

Santiago Gentiletti attempted to block the effort but only succeeded in turning it past his goalkeeper, Federico Marchetti. With a lead established, Juventus took full control of the match, enjoying 60.3 per cent of possession, according to WhoScored.com.

Shortly after the half-hour mark, they would make that dominance tell, with Dybala once again proving to be the difference between the two sides. Initially miscontrolling a pass from Mario Mandzukic, the 22-year-old took an extra touch with his knee and then unleashed a dipping volley into the bottom corner.

"

Spectacular goal by Dybala. https://t.co/MdTVSqL6YH

— Khaled Al Nouss (@KhaledAlNouss) December 4, 2015"

Marchetti was helpless to prevent the ball finding the back of the net, with his team-mates never looking like finding a way back into the match during a dull second half. The goal took Dybala’s tally for the season to eight in all competitions and capped a superb all-round performance from the former Palermo man.

Indeed, as the graphic in the tweet below shows, two of his four shots resulted in goals while 21 of his 28 pass attempts found their intended target. Attempting to take on a Lazio defender on eight separate times and was successful in six of them, also recovering the ball on no fewer than ten occasions.

"

Paulo Dybala vs Lazio: 4 shots, 1 goal, 21/28 passes, 6/8 take-ons, TEN ball recoveries (via @StatsZone) pic.twitter.com/SNRPa1DqTW

— Adam Digby (@Adz77) December 5, 2015"

Constantly involved in the action, Dybala discussed his role in the side with Sky Italia shortly after the final whistle, revealing how coach Massimiliano Allegri had changed how and where he plays compared to last season.

"When I arrived I thought I would be playing as a centre-forward like I had done at Palermo,” the player said (via Juve’s official website).” The boss asked me instead to operate a little deeper and get involved in the play as much as possible.”

He certainly did just that but was forced to do so with very little help in attack as Mario Mandzukic rarely posed a threat to Lazio’s underperforming defence. Once again preferred to Alvaro Morata as Dybala’s strike partner, the Croatian forward remarkably failed to take a single shot at goal during his 81 minutes on the field.

MARCO BERTORELLO/Getty Images

The statistics will credit him with an assist, but his involvement in that strike was extremely minimal and was one of just 27 pass attempts from Mandzukic, according to WhoScored.com’s figures.

Completing just 14 of those (51.9 per cent), per the same source, only Gigi Buffon (12) connected with a team-mate on fewer occasions. If Juventus are to return to title contention—and indeed progress deep into the Champions League—they undoubtedly need more from somebody other than Dybala.

The onus is on Allegri to find a combination that works, with Mandzukic, Morata and even Simone Zaza available to him for that role. The Bianconeri have invested heavily in that trio and just one of them finding form could prove to be the difference as Juventus chase more glory before the end of the 2015/16 campaign.