Match Report : Chievo - Juventus (27.01.2018)

It would be a night mixed with frustration and abysmal decision making on Chievo’s part. The Bianconeri again went into a game missing several names due to injury, Juan Cuadrado, Paulo Dybala, Claudio Marchisio and Benedikt Howedes. There was however good news as Ginaluigi Buffon returned, all be it as a substitute on the bench.

From the get go Juventus set on wards in search of goal only to be stopped in their tracks by a solid yellow wall, also known as the Chievo defence. So resilient was Chievo’s defending that Juventus did not hit the target until the 20^th minute, as Pjanic had his long range effort saved by Sorrentino in what was in all honesty a routine save for the Chievo goalkeeper. Pjanic would again have the opportunity to open the scoring 8 minutes later, only to hit a Chievo wall from a free kick. In what was proving to be an increasingly frustrating night for Juventus things would take a turn for the worst for the home side, as the game approached half time Chievo were reduced to 10 men as Bastien received two quick back to back yellow cards, both for fouling Asamoah. Despite the numerical advantage Juventus were still unable to break through the Chievo back line, as both sides went into half time 0-0

HALF TIME 0-0

Despite Juventus struggling to really threaten Chievo’s defence allegri would wait until the 54^th minute to make a change, bringing on Bernnardeschi in place of Sturaro. Not long after this, the game produced a completely bizarre moment, as Chievo made a quick break towards the Juventus goal, Cacciatore would go to ground inside the penalty area and stay there in an attempt to win his side a penalty, instead the referee allowed play to continue and Juventus began a counter attack of their own, once the ball was out of play Cacciatore protested to the referee as he was told to leave the pitch following medical assistance from the physios, once Cacciatore reluctantly left the field of play he then proceeded to put his hands behind his back in a “handcuffed hands” gesture, to imply that the referee was against Chievo, once the referee saw this, Cacciatore was awarded with a straight red card. With Chievo now down to 9 men the numerical disadvantage eventually came into play, as Juventus finally took the lead, Sami Khedira firing in a shot from 12 yards to make it 1-0 with little over 30 more minutes to play. Despite being having two players sent off, Chievo almost scored a goal of their own, as Birsa played the ball long towards Radovanovic, only to be prevented from an on rushing Szczesny, who intercepted and cleared the ball. Juventus would finally seal the win in the closing stages, as Gonzalo Higuaín got himself on the scoresheet, holding his run to avoid being in an offside position before heading the ball into the net from a Douglas Costa cross.

THOUGHTS: Like the previous fixture, a 1-0 win against genoa, this was a night that saw Juventus under perform yet ultimately end the 90 minutes with another 3 points to their collection. Chievo set up to defend, understandably so for a side sitting in 14^th place in the league and without a win since the 25^th of November. It was Juventus job to break that defence, and for all their possession the Bianconeri at times looked to have few ideas when it came to scoring that important goal. Even when Chievo went down to 10 men, the flying donkeys were still holding up well in defence. Now onto  the Cacciatore incident, in a game where the referee shows his approach is going to be zero tolerance (Higuaín was booked in the first half for gesturing to the referee to show a Chievo player a yellow card, and rightfully so) had a complete moment of madness, stupidity. First arguing with the referee over his decision to have Cacciatore leave the pitch to receive treatment for his “injury” and then going one step further once on the side-lines making the handcuff gesture, that the referee was against Chievo and favouring Juventus. In an era where players can be booked or sent off for abusive language spoken to the referee, or attempting to get an opposition booked by waving an imaginary card (as was the case with Higuaín) this was complete madness on Cacciatore part, and there can be no justifiable argument against the sending off when taking all this into account. Back to Juventus, struggling to score against Chievo is one thing, struggling to score against 10 men Chievo is another story completely. Not for the first time Juventus have looked inept in front of goal and at creating goal scoring chances, yes its another 3 points earned in the Scudetto race but Juventus will have to improve if they are continue challenging on all fronts , especially with big games coming up against sides who will prove a far bigger test than Genoa and Chievo

FULLTIME : CHIEVO 0-2 JUVENTUS

GOAL SCORERS : KHEDIRA (67Min), HIGUAIN (88Min)

Match Report : Juventus - Genoa (22.01.2018)

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE JUVE : Juventus win ugly, and not for the first time

Football returned to the Allianz stadium after the winter break, as Juventus faced Genoa to kick start the second half of the season. Juventus began the night 4 points behind Serie A leaders Napoli, who won their game away to Atalanta the previous night, Juventus would be without notable names such as Paulo Dybala, Claudio Marchisio, Juan Cuadrado and Gianluigi Buffon, all due to injury. Also missing on the night would be the atmosphere created by the Juventus ultra, as The Curva Sud would be completely empty due to punishment as part of a complicated case surrounding ticket sales

Juventus started more positively of the two sides with Pjanic forcing Perrin to make a fantastic save 7 minutes in from a set piece, Juventus continued to control the game and dominate possession on the way to taking the lead through Douglas Costa after 16 minutes played, linking up well with Mandzukic as both exchanged passes on the way to Costa side footing the ball beyond Perrin. Ten minutes later and Juventus would have another good opportunity to score from a set piece, this time a Pjanic free kick meeting the head of Khedira in front of goal, who unfortunately headed the ball well wide

HALF TIME

Into the second half Juventus would have claims for a penalty, as Pjanic delivered a lofted ball into the Genoa penalty area towards Mandzukic who went to ground as he failed to meet the ball, replays suggested he may have been pushed on the back however it did look minimal. Approaching the hour mark Alex Sandro would have a go at extending Juventus lead, but saw his effort go wide of the post. Shortly after Juventus would respond to a Genoa corner kick with a quick counter attack, Higuain heading the incoming ball clear as Juventus broke forward, Higuain would then receive the ball in front of the oppositions area to pass towards Chiellini, however Pjanic intercepted the pass and curled an effort of his own wide of Perrin. As the match approached the last 10 minutes Genoa would test the nerves of the home fans, as they went forward in search of an equalizer. Genoa would end the night without a shot on target, Chiellini however had to hurriedly deal with an awkward bouncing ball in his own box as the Juventus fans voiced their displeasure with what they were seeing.

THOUGHTS: First off, this was in all honesty a dull, boring game to watch. Juventus scoring early and ending the night with 3 points being the only real positives, Douglas Costa deserves praise but the other outfield players for Juventus should be disappointed with their showing tonight. Juventus lacked a creative spark and attacking intents, many players putting in below par performances which luckily didn’t cost the team dropped points. Pjanic hit several efforts high or wide with both Mandzukic and Higuaín having a game to forget, play was at times slow and sluggish and for the last ten minutes Juventus defended a 1-0 lead, at home, against a Genoa side who despite knocking on the door would go on to end the night without hitting the target. Allegri went for experience over youth when it came to his substitutes as Khedira, Lichsteiner and Alex Sandro were replaced with Sturaro, Barzagli and Asamoah, this was understandable as Juventus looked to see out a clean sheet yet was disappointing given the likes of Bentancur and Bernardeschi remained seated on the bench. Overall Juventus did what had to be done, end the night with 3 more points to stay one point behind Napoli, however this was far from convincing and you must feel that against better opposition Juventus could have been punished.

FULL TIME RESULT: Juventus 1-0 Genoa

GOAL SCORER: Douglas Costa (16min)

Match Report: Cagliari - Juventus (06.01.18)

The old lady strike lucky (eventually) on what proved to be a challenging away night against a hard working Cagliari side.

After starting the new year off with a derby win against Torino in the Coppa Italia earlier in the week, Juventus travelled to Sardinia to face Cagliari who ended 2017 with a surprise 2-1 victory away to Atalanta. Juventus once more would have to play without Gianluigi Buffon, who remained on the injured list, as a more than capable Szczesny continued his good form in goal. 

Juventus would start the game in confident fashion, Paulo Dybala striking the frame of the goal 8 minutes in from a free kick, with Higuain striking wide of the post from outside the 16 yard box 2 minutes later. Cagliari’s goal would again come under pressure as Juventus once more were denied by the frame of the goal, Bernardeschi curling the ball from a tight angle, Khedira getting a touch on the rebound only for his effort to be cleared of the line. Juventus would remain on the wrong side of lady luck, as Benatia did well to get his foot on the end of a Pjanic free kick to hit in what he thought was the first goal of the night, only to be denied by the assistant referees flag for offside, replays showed that Benatia was indeed in an offside position as Pjanic struck the ball into the box. After a bright start Juventus would have spells of sloppy play, that would almost prove costly as Cagliari came close to taking the lead 25 minutes in, Pavoletti's bullet header from point blank range in front of goal brilliantly saved by Szczesny keeping the score line goalless. As the match approached half time Szczesny again came to Juventus rescue, Cagliari hitting Juventus on a quick counter attack that almost resulted in a shock lead for the hosts, a quick pass from Pavoletti to Farias inside Juventus penalty box looked like it was resulting in a certain goal, only for Szczesny to get a touch with his hand to push the ball onto the post.

HALF TIME: Cagliari 0-0 Juventus

Cagliari would begin the second half in the same fashion as they ended the first, Pavoletti heading the ball wide of Szczesny just seconds into the second half. On 50 minutes the night would not get much better for Juventus, as Paulo Dybala pulled up mid run holding his hamstring and signalling to the bench for the substitution to be made, Douglas Costa coming on to the replace La Joya. Shortly after, another Juventus players night would come to a premature end, Szczesny inadvertently colliding with team mate Sami Khedira as the goalkeeper rushed out to clear the incoming cross, a dazed Khedira making way for Mario Mandzukic, it would be Juventus second substitution in under 10 minutes. With 73 minutes played Juventus would finally see their luck change, as Costa teased the Cagliari defence with a stepover on the edge of the 16 yard box before whipping in a low cross in front of goal to be met by Bernardeschi who timed his run to perfection and tapped the ball into the net for the opening goal. There would be some controversy as Cagliari felt play should have been stopped for a supposed foul on Pavoletti in midfield, the referee however thought otherwise, and the goal stood. Cagliari would again feel hard done by moments later, appealing to referee Calvarese for what they felt was a penalty after Padoins cross into the Juventus penalty box made contact with a mid-air Bernardeschi’s arm, however after consulting VAR the referee decided it was not a case of hand ball and no penalty was given. With ten minutes remaining Allegri made his final change of the night, taking off Bernardeschi in place of Lichsteiner to defend the slender 1-0 lead. Juventus would go on to see the night out and keep their 1-0 lead in tact in what was a far from convincing display.

THOUGHTS: Szczesny continues to perform fantastic saves when called upon in goal, his save in the closing moments against Roma proved crucial and the Polish international was at it again tonight with two superb stops with the score line 0-0, as tough as it will be for Juventus fans if, and when Buffon calls it a day and retires from the game, but Szczesny is proving more than worthy of taking over the number one spot in super Gigi absence. Bernardeschi was among the starting 11 and took advantage of the opportunity, getting himself in good attacking positions and looking to assist a team mate or score the opening goal himself through out the match (which of course he eventually did). On a negative note, Dybala could possibly be injured for a few weeks, holding his hamstring and signalling to be substituted is never a good sign, one can only hope it is not a serious injury. On the bright side no more January transfer rumours of a move away for the little Argentine! Khedira also left the pitch injured with a head injury which shouldn't see him out for too long. For most of the night it looked like luck was not on Juventus side, hitting the post twice and having a goal disallowed for offside (rightfully). Although it was not convincing and at times ugly, Juventus record another 3  points in the Scudetto race.

FULL TIME: Cagliari 0-1 Juventus

GOAL SCORER: Bernardeschi (75 min)