Juventus Clinch Winter Crown as Roma’s Zaniolo Suffers Injury

Juventus are the Serie A Winter Champions as they beat Roma 2-1 in the Stadio Olimpico showdown on Sunday and history is on their side now as they chase their 9th Italian title in a row. Two out of the three times in the history of the Italian top flight, the team which was leading the pack at halfway point would eventually retain their top spot and go on to win the Scudetto.

Maurizio Sarri disposed of the Giallorossi by taking a double lead with a brutal one-two in the initial stages of the game, then holding onto it as Paulo Fonseca’s men attempted a comeback which didn’t go further than Diego Perotti’s converted penalty.

The bad news for Roma’s Portuguese coach, on top of his second home defeat in a row, is the injury of his starlet Nicoló Zaniolo, who left the pitch in the 34th minute with a torn right-knee cruciate ligament. Yet another mishap in a cursed season for the Roman side, but this one is a pretty bad omen even for the Azzurri’s coach Roberto Mancini – who coincidentally was on the stands of the Stadio Olimpico tonight. Zaniolo is expected to undergo surgery tomorrow already, but his participation in the upcoming Euro 2020 Championship is now under discussion, to say the least.

Nicoló Zaniolo understood straight away than his knee injury was a serious one…

For their second consecutive home game, Roma wore a puzzling blue outfit, while Juventus dressed themselves up in white and red. What’s going on here?

Among the Juve lines, Turkish defender Merih Demiral was again preferred to Matthijs De Ligt: A wise choice on Maurizio Sarri’s part, as we will see in a minute. Welshman Aaron Ramsey was deployed behind strikers Cristiano Ronaldo and Paulo Dybala, while Gonzalo Higuain took place next to Sarri on the bench.

Paulo Fonseca pretty much didn’t have any alternatives in view of the string of injuries that have been haunting his side this season (the last one earlier in the week deprived him again of Henrikh Mkhitaryan) and featured is usual 4-2-3-1 lineup where Edin Dzeko was the offensive terminal.

It was the same formation than one week ago received a beating by Torino, and the outcome didn’t seem to be much different indeed, as in the blink of an eye Merih Demiral scored his first goal in Bianconero. Just three minutes into the game, a free kick by Paulo Dybala whipped the ball into the Giallorossi’s area. Chris Smalling failed to clear it, Aleksandar Kolarov lost Demiral, and the Turkish defender showed that deploying him was again a wise choice by putting the ball past Pau Lopez with a fine header.

Merih Demiral’s game was, however, a short one, as in the 15th minute had to leave the pitch as he twisted his knee while landing from another header. And so, Matthijs De Ligt got another chance next to captain Leonardo Bonucci.

Roma-Juventus was a hard-fought battle! Here Giallorossi defender Gianluca Mancini tested opponent goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny with a header

When Sarri was forced to make his first change, however, Juventus had already moved up to 2-0, courtesy of a penalty converted by Cristiano Ronaldo. Jordan Veretout clumsily crashed on Paulo Dybala, after the Argentinian had stolen him the ball from a suicidal throw-in by Pau Lopez. Roma did everything by themselves. From the spot, CR7 wrapped his 6th goal in a row for Juventus.

The Portuguese star also found room for some show-time: In the 20th minute, he set his supporters on fire as he got rid of his marker Chris Smalling with a stylish spin flick.

The match kept being nervous and fragmented. Both Aleksandar Kolarov and Gianluca Mancini were booked for some tough tackles on the Bianconeri forces. Matthijs De Ligt paid Roma back with their same coin in the 34th minute as he body-checked Nicoló Zaniolo to end the Roma winger’s dangerous progression. The Dutchman saw yellow, but Italy’s young talent remained on the ground in tears, holding his maimed knee. The diagnosis is a pretty inauspicious one and it means the end of the season for the 20-year-old sensation.

Pau Lopez kept his side afloat as he saved from a challenge by Cristiano Ronaldo during the first-half stoppage time, wrapping an initial 45 minutes which saw Juventus coming off the pitch with the Campione d’Inverno title virtually in their pockets.

Juventus’ Alex Sandro and Roma’s Lorenzo Pellegrini chase the ball during the Serie A showdown at the Stadio Olimpico

The Giallorossi’s approach to the second half was vehement but didn’t take them further that some protests over an alleged handball in the box by Adrien Rabiot. To increase the pressure, Paulo Fonseca sent in Bryan Cristante after two months and a half spent in the sickroom.

The goal that gave his side new hopes, however, came from the penalty spot. The VAR caught Juventus defender Alex Sandro touching the ball with a hand at the end of a frenetic play into the Bianconeri’s box, which saw Edin Dzeko hitting the post and then Wojciech Szczesny saving twice on Cengiz Under’s challenges. Diego Perotti’s conversion from the spot was perfect.

Juventus could score the third a few minutes later, but Gonzalo Higuain – who had just replaced Aaron Ramsey – saw his finish on a pass by CR7 disallowed because of a minimal offside position.

Fonseca eventually sent in Nikola Kalinic to boost his offensive power and Roma made themselves dangerous again during stoppage time. It took a great defensive clearance by Matthijs De Ligt to prevent Edin Dzeko from shooting from close range, then Lorenzo Pellegrini fired the ball to the stars from an advantageous position. The last emotion of the game was a challenge by Gonzalo Higuain which was stopped by Roma’s goalkeeper.

Juventus distanced Inter and captured the Winter Champion title, but all Italian football fans’ hearts tonight were with Nicoló Zaniolo and his unfortunate situation. Forza, ragazzo!

 

MATCH REPORT

January 12, 2020 – Serie A 2019-2020 Round 19
ROMA-JUVENTUS 1-2

SCORERS: 3′ Demiral (J), 10′ Cristiano Ronaldo (J, pen.), 68′ Perotti (R, pen.)

ROMA (4-2-3-1): Pau Lopez; Florenzi, Smalling, Mancini, Kolarov; Diawara, Veretout (66′ Cristante); Zaniolo (35′ Under), Pellegrini, Perotti (80′ Kalinic); Dzeko (Fuzato, Mirante, Cetin, Juan Jesus, Bruno Peres, Spinazzola) Coach: Fonseca
JUVENTUS (4-3-1-2): Szczesny; Cuadrado (68′ Danilo), Demiral (18′ de Ligt), Bonucci, Alex Sandro; Rabiot, Pjanic, Matuidi; Ramsey; Dybala (68′ Higuain), Cristiano Ronaldo (Buffon, Pinsoglio, Bernardeschi, Emre Can, Douglas Costa, De Sciglio, Pjaca, Rugani) Coach: Sarri

REFEREE: Mr. Guida from Torre Annunziata
NOTES: Yellow Cards: Veretout, Kolarov, Mancini, Cristante, Kalinic, Florenzi (R), Pjanic, de Ligt, Cuadrado (J); Extra Time: 1st Half 4′, 2nd Half 5′