Benevento dented Juventus’s Serie A title hopes on Sunday when Adolfo Gaich’s second-half strike sealed a shock 1-0 victory in Turin and ended the relegation battlers’ 11-match winless run.
The Argentine pounced on a careless pass from Juve midfielder Arthur Melo to fire in the decisive goal after 69 minutes, and the toothless hosts failed to find a way past goalkeeper Lorenzo Montipo.
The defeat left champions Juve in third place, 10 points behind leaders Inter Milan with 11 games remaining.
Benevento?s Adolfo Gaich (2-R) jubilates after scoring the 0-1 goal during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Juventus FC and Benevento Calcio in Turin, Italy, 21 March 2021. EPA-EFE/ALESSANDRO DI MARCO
Benevento’s survival hopes were boosted as they moved seven points clear of the relegation zone in 16th position.
“This was a game that marks a turning point; we had the right attitude,” said Benevento captain Nicolas Viola.
“We are overjoyed. We are a humble team and when we find courage we are hard to beat, we make the opposition play badly.”
Andrea Pirlo’s Juve were unbeaten in their previous five league games but he could not prevail over his former AC Milan team mate Filippo Inzaghi in the opposing dugout, despite the hosts mustering nine shots on target to Benevento’s one.
