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Felipe Caicedo's last-gasp goal at the death helped Lazio hold Juventus to a 1-1 draw at the Stadio Olimpico as the defending champions ceded more ground to table-toppers AC Milan in the 2020-21 Serie A.
Cristiano Ronaldo's early opener in Rome appeared to have secured all three points for the Bianconeri, but that was not to be, as Caicedo came off the bench to equalise in the fifth minute of stoppage time after some great work by Joaquin Correa.
Till that moment, the visitors had done well to keep the Biancocelesti, who were missing their star striker Ciro Immobile, at bay, but a lapse in concentration as well as some poor man-marking allowed the hosts to salvage a share of the spoils.
Juventus trailed leaders AC Milan by three points before the kick-off at the Olimpico, but the Rossoneri's lead atop the Serie A could now increase while Simone Inzaghi's side are up to ninth in the table.
On that note, let's have a look at the five hits and flops from either team in the match:
Hit: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
After missing a few games due to his COVID-19-enforced absence, Cristiano Ronaldo has taken little time to hit his stride on his return to action.
He netted twice past Spezia last weekend and had an assist in Juventus' Champions League win over Ferencvaros. Against Lazio, Ronaldo had his scoring boots on. He netted what turned out to be Juventus' only goal of the game, one that eventually helped Juventus take a point back to Turin, if not all three points.
The 35-year old scored one of the easiest goals of his career when he tapped home from point-blank range after some good work down the right flank by Juan Cuadrado.
Ronaldo could and should have scored more against Lazio, though. He had two efforts parried by Pepe in the first half: one from open play and the other from a well-executed free-kick. Interspersed between those moments was a shot that rattled the crossbar as the Portuguese ace caused all sorts of problems to the Lazio defence.
He was subbed off in the 75th minute after what appeared to be a minor knock to his toe, but it was nevertheless a solid performance from the talismanic number 7, who continued his prolific start to the 2020-21 season.
Flop: Paulo Dybala (Juventus)
Paulo Dybala's poor run of form compelled Andrea Pirlo to drop the Argentine to the bench. But it now seems that Dybala is just as awful off the bench too, as he looked too out of sorts against Lazio.
It was the Argentine's cheap surrender of possession that gave Lazio the throw-in, from which they scored their equalising goal.
Paulo Dybala broke forward down the right as Juventus looked to counter-attack, but his first touch was often heavy, and the ball went out of play.
The player looks seriously on the decline. Forget scoring truckloads of goals as he used to during his first few years in Turin, the 26-year old is underwhelming in every aspect of his game at the moment.
Hit: Dejan Kulusevski (Juventus)
While we're yet to see the kind of magic he weaved for Parma last season, Dejan Kulusevski is slowly but steadily growing in influence at Juventus. something that was pretty evident against Lazio. His spatial intelligence and ball-carrying ability were stupendous; he was the cog that kept the Bianconeri wheel spinning.
Starting on the right-hand side of a three-pronged attack, the young Swede ran rings around Lazio with his pacy runs up and down the flank. He often drove the ball out of tight areas to fashion some good chances on the break while also pressing opposition defenders to give up possession in key areas of the pitch.
Kulusevski's attacking output still leaves a lot to be desired, as he failed to muster a single shot on target. Nevertheless, his hard work and willingness to contribute to the Juventus cause must be appreciated.
Flop: Rodrigo Bentancur (Juventus)
It might sound too harsh to label Rodrigo Bentancur a 'flop' after his solid defensive prowess for much of the game, but he came up short in the most crucial moment of the match, one from which Lazio scored their equaliser. Of course, the Uruguayan isn't the only player to be held responsible for that, but he sure could've done better with blocking Correa.
Bentancur's influence in the match gradually waned in the second half, and he looked wobbly in possession too. Too often when Lazio attempted to break forward, he was found well out of position, leaving everything up to West McKennie, who only came off the bench.
Bentancur clearly had little left in the tank as the match wore on and should've been taken off by Pirlo.
Hit: Joaquin Correa (Lazio)
Without the goalscoring talisman Ciro Immobile, who has been diagnosed with COVID-19, Lazio's job of getting the better of Juventus was always going to be difficult. Even Joaquin Correa, who normally scores in big moments, found it hard to engineer a way past the visitors.
His efforts often lacked the cutting edge as they were blocked or turned behind for corners, but the Argentine pulled a rabbit out of his hat right at the death to set up Caicedo's equaliser. That is why he has been labelled a 'hit' here.
Correa burst into the Juventus box and slalomed past Bentancur and Cuadrado before rounding Adrian Rabiot inside the box to lay set up Caicedo to do the rest. His ball-control in that moment was superb while his dribbles past three Juventus players were something even Lionel Messi would be proud of.
