La Joya Wins It For Juve

The Bianconeri claimed their third successive Serie A victory after a second half substitution saw ‘La Joya’ come on and score the only goal of the game at Renato Dall’Ara.

A GOALLESS FIRST HALF

The first attack of the game came from the home side, where Federico Santander attempted a backheel finish towards goal, however, it wasn’t strong enough to test Mattia Perin in goal. Nicola Sansone then followed up with an effort of his own in the 10th minute of play, when he picked up the ball on the edge of the D and fired at goal. Perin was beaten, but his strike went wide.

Juventus’ first real attack came in the 20th minute, when Federico Bernardeschi tried to slip the ball into the path of an onrushing Blaise Matuidi inside the box, but Lukasz Skorupski rushed off his line on time and gathered the ball easily. Bologna were looking very positive when on the attack, and their next effort came from Simone Edera, who fired a shot that went inches wide of the bottom post.

The Bianconeri’s best chance of the half came from Bernardeschi just after the half hour mark. The Tuscan attacker made a surging run into the box, looked up, and fired an attempted curling effort into the top far corner, however it went over... by only millimetres.

It was a first half of half chances and untaken opportunities, that left both teams heading into the break goalless.

CRUCIAL SANDRO!

Both teams came out knowing that the result could go either way, and Bologna showed their ambition to cause an upset. Juventus were lucky to not go a goal down when Alex Sandro pulled off a crucial and decisive interception from Mbaye’s shot, following a corner kick into the area that seemingly caused a lot of uncertainty inside the box.

Massimiliano Allegri then opted to change things up in attack when he introduced Paulo Dybala up front for Alex Sandro, leaving Joao Cancelo to fall back into his usual full-back role.

SUPER SUB, LA JOYA!

Dybala’s introduction into the team had an immediate effect, where he started and ended a move which resulted in the goal. He passed the ball to Matuidi, who laid off a cross inside the box, but it was poorly cleared by Bologna and fell straight to the feet of the Argentine, who then struck a low side-footed effort down the middle of the goal.

With less than a quarter of an hour remaining in the game, Miralem Pjanic was introduced onto the field in place of Matuidi, while the final change saw Bernardeschi come off for Giorgio Chiellini.

MIGHTY PERIN

In the dying moments of the game, Perin was asked to produce a decisive save which kept the scoreline in favour of the visitors. Sansone struck the ball from distance and he brilliantly tipped the effort onto the post. Despite Bologna’s relentless attitude, Juventus held on strong to ensure all three points headed back to Turin.

Juventus Starting XI: Perin, De Sciglio, Bonucci, Rugani, Alex Sandro (Dybala ‘59); Bernardeschi, Bentancur, Matuidi (Pjanic ’78); Cancelo, Mandzukic, Ronaldo.

Substitutes: Szczesny, Pinsoglio, Chiellini, Caceres, Barzagli, Spinazzola, Pjanic, Dybala, Kean

Bologna Starting XI: Skorupski; Mbaye, Danilo, Helander, Dijks; Poli (Donsah ’79), Pulgar (Felcinelli ’79), Soriano; Edera (Orsolini ’52), Santander, Sansone

Substitutes: Da Costa, Gonzalez, Lyanco, Paz, Orsolini, Nagy, Krejci, Donash, Dzemaili, Svamberg, Calabresi, Falcinelli

Bookings: Pulgar ‘6, Bentancur ’16, Sansone ’74, Cancelo ‘90

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