´Emotional´ win for del Neri

Juventus boss Luigi del Neri said his side fully deserved their last-gasp victory against Lazio on Sunday.

With the match evenly poised at 1-1, attacker Milos Krasic produced an injury-time winner after Lazio goalkeeper Fernando Muslera helped the ball in.

The goal sparked wild celebrations amongst the fans and players and helped send Juve to second in the league.

Del Neri admits the victory against one of the Serie A’s best sides this season was a special one.

“In general it is a deserved victory and we used up a lot of energy for the final assault,” Delneri said.

“It was very emotional, as the lads wanted to win this game so much. You can tell the strength of a side from results like this.”

“We have great respect for Lazio, who are putting in excellent performances and both sides played well.”

“Considering the way the victory was achieved, it gives us an important boost, highlighting the efforts and intensity of the squad. If we continue with this team spirit, then we really can go far.”

Del Neri caused a stir this week with the revelation that injured Gianluigi Buffon is not guaranteed to slot straight back into the team in January, but defended his comments after the match.

“Buffon remains a great Juventus star, but I focus on the group and he is part of the group,” del Neri said.

“We await Buffon with open arms, but let it be very clear that nobody at Juve is indispensable, because the group is more important than any individual.”

Lazio boss Edy Reja bemoaned a defensive error from Luis Cavanda as his side had a point stolen from them with the very last kick of the game.

Cavanda, marking Milos Krasic, allowed the Serb to get to the by-line before he scored the all-important goal and afterwards, Reja dubbed the mistake as ‘naive’.

“Cavanda is young and he didn’t realise you mustn’t give Krasic space to cut inside,” Reja said.

“We paid a heavy price for a naive error. It’s a real shame, as the game was effectively over by then. We were there, but towards the end couldn’t keep hold of the ball.”

“There are regrets when you lose a match with five seconds to go. Now it will become difficult to rediscover the right spirit.”

Juventus’ win saw them leapfrog Lazio on the table, with both sides and Napoli all locked on 30 points, six behind table-toppers AC Milan.