Juventus See Off Parma in Crushing Routine Win

Italian Football, Juventus, Parma, Serie A, Serie A 2020-2021 2 comments

Juventus sorted to keep pressure on leaders Milan in the Saturday evening kick off when they made the trip to mid-table Parma and their performance did not disappoint as they easily routed the side from Emilia-Romagna.

Andrea Pirlo turned to tenured goalkeeper Gigi Buffon to face his former side, with Aaron Ramsey returning to midfield to replace Arthur. Alex Sandro came in for Juan Cuadrado and Swede Dejan Kulusevki came in for Federico Chiesa. The Italian manager opted to keep his first choice forward line of Alvaro Morata and Cristiano Ronaldo together as Juventus looked for goals.

Under Fabio Liverani, Parma have had a quiet start to this season and made three changes from their midweek draw at home to Cagliari. Last season’s top scorer Andreas Cornelius came back into lead the line alongside talisman Gervinho. Riccardo Gagliolo was called into left back instead of Germán Pezzella and in midfield Hernani was selected alongside the up and coming Swiss player Simon Sohm.

Parma had the best opening in the first 15 mins. A ball was fizzed across the box from the left to the onrushing Juraj Kucka whose low first time side foot effort was saved well by Buffon at his near post, the Slovenian having ought to have done better.

Rodrigo Bentancur called Luigi Sepe into action as the Uruguayan seized on a lose ball and snatched upon it, driving left before firing a tame shot at the goalkeeper.

Juventus did break the deadlock in the 22nd minute through former Parma player Kulusevski who tucked away a low cross from fullback Alex Sandro that had come the length of the box.

The Bianconeri were in full swing and continued to attack their sluggish opponents. They doubled their lead when Cristiano Ronaldo scored a towering header from Alvaro Morata’s inswinging cross from the left, the two forwards continuing their blossoming partnership.

That is how the first half ended with Parma showing no real signs of breaking down a dominant Juventus. At the break, Parma turned to forward Yann Karamoh to add some thrust to an attack that had failed to trouble the well marshaled back line of Matthijs De Ligt and Leonardo Bonucci.

It did not have the desired effect, as Ronaldo wasted no time doubling his tally less than five minutes into the second half. A lovely flick in midfield sent Ramsey surging into space and as he approached the box he squeezed through a pass to Ronaldo, who shifting the ball to his left fired across Sepe and into the far corner for his side’s third.

Three was so very nearly four as De Ligt turned home a rebound after Sepe had saved Weston McKennie’s initial header but the goal was ruled out for a foul in the build up. Gagliolo had a great chance to get Parma back in the tie with a back post volley after a ball was played in from the right by Wylan Cyprien but he kicked it down into the ground and it bounced just the wrong side of the far post.

Alvaro Morata got himself on the score sheet with a fine planted header back across goal. Again another cross from the left was the undoing of Parma, with 20-year-old Manolo Portanova delivering a looped cross where the unmarked striker was waiting to finish with aplomb.

Parma mounted some late pressure to try and secure a consolation goal but were unable to breach the well-marshaled Juventus defense and the Turin side collected a welcome three points, taking them level with Inter in second.

Meanwhile, Parma slip to 15th and will travel to relegation candidates Crotone on Tuesday night. Juventus will host Fiorentina in their last match of the year in a period where the games are coming thick and fast.

 

 

MATCH REPORT

December 19, 2020 – Serie A 2020-21 Round 13
PARMA-JUVENTUS 0-4

SCORERS: 23′ Kulusevski, 26′ Cristiano Ronaldo, 48′ Cristiano Ronaldo, 86′ Morata

PARMA (4-3-1-2): Sepe; Iacoponi (60′ Busi), Osorio, Bruno Alves, Gagliolo; Hernani, Sohm, Kurtic (85′ Brugman); Kucka (60′ Cyprien); Cornelius (61′ Inglese), Gervinho (46′ Karamoh) (Colombi, Balogh, Dezi, Valenti, Ricci, Brunetta, Camara) Coach: Liverani
JUVENTUS (4-4-2): Buffon; Danilo, De Ligt, Bonucci (75′ Cuadrado), Alex Sandro; Kulusevski, Bentancur, McKennie (76′ Portanova), Ramsey (68′ Bernardeschi); Morata, Cristiano Ronaldo (82′ Chiesa) (Szczesny, Pinsoglio, Rabiot, Da Graca, Dragusin, Frabotta) Coach: Pirlo

REFEREE: Mr. Calvarese from Teramo
NOTES: Yellow Cards: Danilo (J); Extra Time: 1st Half 0′, 2nd Half 1′

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