Match Report: Verona - Juventus (30.11.2017)

Juventus would go into this fixture against Verona knowing that 3 points would be more important than usual, after Inter, Roma and Lazio drew their games to drop points in the title race. A win against Verona would see Juventus maintain a 1 point gap between themselves and league leaders Napoli, however an away trip to Verona would be anything but a guaranteed win, as Verona were unbeaten in their previous 3 home  meetings with the Bianconeri. Juventus would still be without Buffon for the evenings game, also absent would be Miralem Pjanic, Mattia De Sciglio, Juan Cuadrado and Benedikt Howedes.

It would take Juventus just 6 minutes to score the opening goal, First Higuain struck the post as Matuidi followed up to hit the rebound into the back of the net to make it 1-0. Minutes later Higuain would again  come close to getting his name on the scoresheet, running towards the Verona goal and finding no support around him, Higuain would have an effort on goal only for the keeper to save and prevent a second early goal for the Bianconeri. After two good efforts on goal Higuain would then try his luck from a set piece, going so close to scoring that Juventus fans in the stadium cheered for a goal that never was, as the ball instead hit the side-netting. 28 minutes played and it would be Verona’s turn for an attempt on goal, as Verde cut inside of Lichsteiner from the wing before curling an effort just outside the penalty area that ended wide of the Juventus goal

Half Time: Verona 0-1 Juventus

Juventus would pay for staying in first gear for spells in the first half as former player Martin Caceres would come back to haunt them, chaptalizing on a Matuidi error to make it 1-1 with a fortunate strike that saw him slip on the pitch after striking the ball, Szczesny could do little to prevent the ball going beyond his grasp and into the bottom corner. Juventus would continue to play poorly and looked rattled by the home sides goal in the opening stages of the second half, as Caceres found himself in the thick of the action again, releasing on-loan Juventus striker Mois Kean with a pass before a promising move was snuffed out by Chillini and Benatia.

With 72 minutes played Juventus would find a match winner a familiar face, Lichsteiner hitting a low cross from the by line into the Verona penalty box that would find Paulo Dybala 10 yards in front of goal to make it 2-1 with a clinical finish on his weaker left foot. However the move would come at a price for Lichtsteiner, who had his game prematurely ended in a collision with Caceres prior to his cross. Soon after restoring the lead for his side, Dybala would be at it again in front of goal, going on a driving run from midfield, dribbling between 4 Verona players and ending his run by smashing the ball beyond the Verona goal keeper making it 3 for Juventus and 2 for La Joya. With 6 minutes remaining Juventus would almost go 4-1 ahead from a Bernardeschi free kick, as his effort found its way into the net only to be disallowed for offside, as both Benatia and Higuain are caught offside and ruled to be interfering in play.

Thoughts: Juventus looked good in the early stages of the first half, taking the lead in the opening 6 minutes and playing the game to their own tempo, however towards half time they began to take their foot off the pedal and allowed Verona to have an effort on goal through Verdi that could have been more costly against better opposition, Higuain too really should have sent Juventus into the break with a 2-0 lead but uncharacteristically hit the ball straight at Verona keeper Nicolas. After the curse of playing against an ex player struck in the form of Caceres scoring to make it 1-1 their was a spell in play when it looked like a rattled Juventus might throw this game away completely, thankfully Dybala returned in style after starting the previous 3 league fixtures from the bench, any doubts in La Joya were put to rest with two clinical finishes to win the game for Juventus, particularly his second that included a run that was a joy to watch and showcased his dribbling abilities. If Dybala keeps up performances like this and returns to his early season goal scoring ways he wont be warming up the substitutes bench any time soon

Full Time: Verona 1-3 Juventus

Goal Scorers: Matuidi (6min) Caceres (59min) Dybala (72min) (77min)