Match Review: Juventus vs Benevento (05.11.2017)

After a week of promoting the clubs 120^th anniversary, Juventus would end the week at home against Serie A strugglers Benevento, a side yet to register a single point in the league whilst setting an all-time Serie A record, losing all of their opening 12 games. Juventus took to the pitch wearing a special commemorative kit to mark the occasion, although there would be little special about this game as far as Juventus were concerned. Juventus started brightly with Douglas Costa forcing a save from Brignoli, who almost palmed the ball into his own net, shortly afterwards Douglas Costa was at it again, this time hitting the cross bar with an impressive effort from a tight angle. Minutes later however it would be the visitors who took a shock lead against the run of play, Ciciretti converting an impressive free kick leaving Juventus fans in disbelief. Juventus would go on to control most of the possession, yet it would be a case of firing blanks when in front goal, as Cudrado along with Dybala missed several opportunities to bring the score line level. As if that wasn’t frustrating enough for Juventus, this would be the first game of the season that saw Benevento go into the half time break with a lead.

As the second half kicked off there was a feeling of “it’s one of those games” as Benevento defended their lead. There would be an odd moment when Gonzalo Higuaín decided to try his luck from set pieces, both his free kick attempts would go wide and directly to the goalkeeper, needless to say Higuaín won’t be regularly taking free kicks for Juventus anytime soon. Juventus would continue to search for their opening goal of the game and it would finally arrive after almost an hour of play, De Sciglio’s cross into the penalty area was met by the head of Matuidi, sending the ball into the direction of a hooked volley by Higuaín. It wouldn’t take long for the afternoons third goal to arrive, as Cuadrado made amends for his previous miss hits, this time Alex Sandro providing a whipped cross for Cuadrado to head the ball in at the back post. The drama was far from over though, as Cataldi blasted a volley that wasn’t too far over Szczesny’s goal. Higuain would have a penalty appeal turned down, instead the Argentine would be booked for simulation when replays showed that there was indeed contact. Ciciretti would also have a penalty appeal for Benevento waved away, after needing little encouragement to go down when tussling with Chiellini for the ball.

Talking Points: For most of the first half the chances of Juventus scoring a goal looked slim to none, as both Cuadrado and Dybala had poor efforts on goal. Again, Juventus looked at times out of ideas when faced with a side who’s sole intention was to defend, as has been the case already particularly in the champions league against Olympiacos and Sporting. Against a side that’s already conceded 33 goals in 12 games before this afternoons fixture, Juventus should be meeting expectations and not struggling at home against Benevento. On the positive side, Juventus ended match day 12 with 3 important points, after both title contenders Napoli and Inter drew their games 0-0 and 1-1 leaving Juventus a single point behind Napoli in second place

Full Time Result: Juventus 2-1 Benevento

Goal Scorers: Ciciretti (19^th), Higuain (57^th) , Cuadrado (65^th)