Juventus 3-1 Udinese: Yildiz stars as managerless hosts end winless stretch
Juventus picked up their first win in all competitions since September 13 against Inter as they downed Udinese at Allianz Stadium.
Managerless Juventus ended a run of eight games without a win in all competitions to move up to sixth in Serie A with a convincing 3-1 victory over Udinese on Wednesday.
Having sacked Igor Tudor earlier this week after a poor run of results, interim boss Massimo Brambilla steered Juventus to their first win since beating Inter 4-3 on September 13.
Juventus hit the front with just five minutes on the clock through a Dusan Vlahovic penalty after the forward had been hauled to the floor by Udinese defender Saba Goglichidze.
Lois Openda then fired wide a glorious chance shortly after as the hosts continued to pile on the pressure, with Filip Kostic then forcing a smart stop from Maduka Okoye.
And despite losing top scorer Keinan Davis to injury seven minutes before the break, Udinese made Juventus pay for their profligacy in front of goal in first-half stoppage time after Nicolo Zaniolo picked out the bottom-left corner following a scramble in the box.
Juventus returned from the break revitalised and should have restored their lead just after the hour, but visiting goalkeeper Okoye produced a string of stunning stops to deny Openda and Pierre Kalulu in quick succession.
However, the Bianconeri's pressure eventually told in the 67th minute when Andrea Cambiaso's teasing cross to the back post was thumped into the net by the head of Federico Gatti.
With the pressure beginning to build, Juventus were awarded another spot-kick following a VAR review, with Goglichidze again the culprit, but this time Yildiz stepped up to slot home from 12 yards to hand his team a much-needed victory.
Data Debrief: Yildiz continues to impress
Yildiz proved to be one of the shining lights for Juventus during their dismal run under Tudor, and he once again proved here why he is one of the most exciting talents around.
Indeed, he has now equalled Paul Pogba as the player with the most goals scored for Juventus before turning 21 in Serie A in the three points for a win era (11).
He was also the catalyst in the final third, registering team-high totals for shots (seven) and attempted dribbles (three), while only Openda (14) had more touches in the box than the Turkish international (11).
But Juventus were worthy victors here, registering an expected goals (xG) total of 3.17 from their 25 shots, 11 of which were on target, compared to Udinese's 0.51 from their eight efforts at Michele Di Gregorio's net.
