At the Allianz Stadium in Turin, Juventus absolutely needed to gain all three points to avoid falling further behind in the standings. Nonetheless, Sassuolo shocked them with a last-second winner to leave them out of the conversation. Davide Frattesi had opened the scoring for the Neroverdi, but Weston McKennie’s equalizer restored hope for the Bianconeri faithful, before it was chattered by Maxime Lopez at the 95th minute. So here are our Player Ratings for the Serie A Round 10 encounter between Juventus and Sassuolo.
Juventus XI
Mattia Perin – 6
The former Genoa keeper received a rare appearance and denied Berardi with a decent save. Conceded two goals but he was mostly faultless on both occasions.
Danilo – 6.5
The Brazilian was easily the best defender for the hosts, making several great interceptions including a brilliant sliding effort to block Raspadori’s shot. Max Allegri sacrificed him later in the match in favor of more attacking options, but the move turned out to be counter-productive.
Leonardo Bonucci – 5.5
On his 400th Serie A appearance, the Italian veteran didn’t have much to do at the back with Juventus controlling the play for the majority of the match, but his leadership didn’t provide confidence at the back.
Matthijs de Ligt – 5.5
The Dutchman made a key intervention to deny Defrel early on, but failed to track Frattesi’s run on the first goal, and was nowhere to be seen on the second.
Mattia De Sciglio – N/A
The former Milan man was enjoying a promising start to the match but ended up leaving the pitch after sustaining an injury ten minutes into the first half.
Federico Chiesa – 5.5
A disappointing performance for the former Fiorentina star who wasted a decent chance in font of goal early on and never truly managed to create anything worth-noting.
Weston McKennie – 6
A mixed bag from the former Schalke man. Wasted a header in the first minutes that could have a made the Old Lady’s match much less complicated but then rose above Ferrari to score the equalizer. And at the end, he played Lopez onside for the killer finale.
Manuel Locatelli – 5.5
The midfielder didn’t impress against his former teammates. His touch appeared to be heavier than usual and couldn’t provide the calm and reassuring presence that Juventus craved for in the most delicate instances of the match.
Adrien Rabiot – 6
The Frenchman made his return following his Covid-19 hiatus and was one of the Bianconeri’s most energetic performers, helping his side in the high pressing, but was taken off during the break in favor of Cuadrado.
Paulo Dybala – 7
The captain didn’t deserve to walk out of the pitch empty-handed. The Argentine was his side’s main source of creativity, and was unlucky to see of his shot hitting the post, while another was denied by Consigli. Provided a sublime cross for McKennie’s goal.
Alvaro Morata – 4
Another under-par performance from the Spaniard who wasted some decent chances early on (although he was offside) and failed to hold up the ball upfront.
Juventus Substitutes
Alex Sandro – 5
Perhaps the Brazilian truly needed some rest time, but De Sciglio’s injury forced him to play for almost the entire match. Lost the ball repeatedly and failed to deliver decent balls to the strikers.
Juan Cuadrado – 6
The Colombian immediately improved the Old Lady’s game after coming on. Would have scored if it wasn’t for Ayhan’s goal-line clearance, and won the freekick that led to the equalizer. Nonetheless, he gave away the ball to Sassuolo with a poor cross which led to the winning goal.
Kaio Jorge – 6
Although he’s not a natural center forward, the Brazilian proved to be a vast improvement on Morata, and almost scored a legendary first goal with a bicycle kick.
Arthur – N/A
Dejan Kulusevski – N/A
Sassuolo XI
Andrea Consigli – 6.5
The veteran goalkeeper was beaten by McKennie’s header, but made a brilliant save on Dybala’s venomous shot.
Mert Muldur – 6.5
The Turk contributed to the opener with his run from the right before squaring the ball to Defrel. Helped in the defensive phase as well.
Kaan Ayhan – 7
The center back put up a brilliant performance at the back, marking Morata completely out of the match. Made a heroic goal-line clearance to prevent Cuadrado’s shot from hitting the net.
Gian Marco Ferrari – 6
The Sassuolo captain was solid overall but was beaten in the air by the shorter McKennie, allowing the American to equalize for Juventus.
Rogerio – 6.5
The Brazilian enjoyed a decent outing against the club that once owned his contract. Dealt well with Chiesa in the first half, and even though Cuadrado caused him some problems in the second period, he managed to maintain his composure.
Davide Frattesi – 7
The Italian is considered to be Locatelli’s replacement at Sassuolo, and thus had a point to prove. Struggled against the physically-stronger Juventus midfielders early on, but his performance grew with the match. Snatched the opening goal with a lovely run to the box followed by an expert finish.
Maxime Lopez – 7.5
This hero of the night. The former Marseille man worked tirelessly from start to finish, and put the icing on the cake by scoring a last-second winner with a clinical chip.
Domenico Berardi – 7
The Euro 2020 winner was a constant threat Juventus and almost grabbed a goal early on. His movement was enough to distract de Ligt on the opening goal, and provided the sublime assist for the late winner
Giacomo Raspadori – 6
The young striker worked for his team and threatened Perin’s goal with a dangerous shot early in the second half.
Hamed Traorè – 5.5
This wasn’t the Ivorian best display, as he was at times wasteful on the ball, and ran the risk of earning a second yellow card.
Gregoire Defrel – 6.5
The French striker was provided with little service, but displayed his craftiness with by putting Frattesi through with a lovely assist.
Sassuolo Substitutes
Gianluca Scamacca – 5.5
The big center forward was introduced at a time when Sassuolo were mostly defending the lead, and thus saw very little of the ball. Had a shot on target but without troubling Perin.
Jeremy Toljan – N/A
Matheus Henrique – N/A
Vlad Chiriches – N/A
Abdo Harroui – N/A