Malinovskyi Lucky Goal Adds to Andrea Pirlo and Juventus Woes

First things first: It was not the most memorable game in history between Atalanta and Juventus. The last time the Nerazzurri and the Bianconeri had ended their clash with a goalless draw had been 24 years ago. A nil-nil tie would had been a fair outcome today as well, had not been for Alex Sandro’s unlucky deflection into his own goal from a Ruslan Malinovskyi shot.

And so, it was Atalanta to win the bragging rights and the three points on offer on Sunday afternoon at the Gewiss Stadium as they leapfrogged Juventus to the third place in the Serie A table, adding more woes to coach Andrea Pirlo’s troubled debut season.

In retrospect, Cristiano Ronaldo’s thigh injury will trigger more doubts about the Bianconeri‘s consistency without their talismanic forward as neither Alvaro Morata nor Paulo Dybala – who was in the starting XI for the first time after 98 days – succeeded in filling the void left by the Portuguese ace today.

The question is always the same: How much are the Bianconeri worth without Cristiano Ronaldo? There is little to save from Juventus season, except perhaps for a Coppa Italia Final where they will face again Atalanta on May 19. 

? Questi gli 11 scelti da Mister Gasperini!
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Presented by @Plus500#AtalantaJuve #GoAtalantaGo ⚫️? pic.twitter.com/s0BHyjidQS

— Atalanta B.C. (@Atalanta_BC) April 18, 2021

Gian Piero Gasperini’s Atalanta, on the other hand, did just a bit more than their counterparts to seal the victory today and were eventually helped by Lady Luck as a violent yet unpretentious shot from Ruslan Malinovskyi found Alex Sandro on its way. The Brazilian’s deflection left no chance to poor Wojciech Szczesny in goal.

The Nerazzurri‘s situation in different: All Atalanta can hope for is grabbing a spot among the top four to conquer their third Champions League qualification in a row. That would be a major achievement and, should Inter help them tonight by beating Napoli, their home win today could prove fundamental in that regard.

All in all, it was legitimate to expect more from a match dubbed as a key battle for the Champions League. Yet, good defending turned the first half into a watchable but still goalless affair.

Luis Muriel seemed inspired from the get-go and after four minutes penetrated into the Bianconeri‘s box dancing with the ball on his feet. Juan Cuadrado somehow managed to stop him pushing him with his shoulder – irregularly according to the Atalanta staff, but not for referee Daniele Orsato who deemed it a normal contact.

The Colombian wing-back was Andrea Pirlo’s added weapon in the first half. On seven minutes, he drew a brilliant Robin Gosens defensive clearance that denied his close range-shot. 

Among  the Atalanta lines, it was Matteo Pessina to make himself dangerous: It took a last-gasp Matthijs De  Ligt deflection to neutralize his shot after a beautiful give-and-go with Luis Muriel in the 23rd minute.

Good defending was on the spotlight again on 34 minutes as Juventus collected perhaps the clearest scoring chance in the first half. Joakim Maehle was hesitant in his defensive coverage and let Federico Chiesa snatch the ball out of his feet. From Chiesa’s service for Alvaro Morata, the Spaniard should have done better as his weak shot allowed Berat Djimsiti to clear the ball before it could cross the goal line.

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— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) April 18, 2021

The match tempo didn’t pick in the second half. It took 12 minutes to see something meaningful happening and it was Federico Chiesa picking up a muscular injury and giving way to Danilo.

Luis Muriel’s cross turned into a shot that flew away not far from Juventus’ top corner of the goal but doubts remained about his scoring attempt being intentional. Duvan Zapata’s header later in the game, on the other hand, was arguably intentional but missed the target by a few inches.

On 67 minutes, both coaches changes their offensive options: Josip Ilicic replaced Luis Muriel for the hosts, while Andrea Pirlo sent in Dejan Kulusevski in Paulo Dybala’s place. The substitution that proved decisive, however, came a few minutes later from Gian Piero Gasperini, as he pulled out a struggling Maehle and threw Ruslan Malinovskyi in the mix.

It was the Ukrainian to draw the trump card when there were just three minutes missing, firing the ball from outside of the box to find a bizarre deflection to Juventus’ detriment. The goal was officially awarded to Malinovskyi though it was clearly Alex Sandro’s disgraceful intervention to alter the course of the game.

Before that, all Juventus had managed to produce was an Alvaro Morata shot from a Kulusevski cross that prompted a save from Pierluigi Gollini. The rest of the game turned into a chaotic, and perhaps discouraged assault on the white-and-black part. 

 

MATCH REPORT

April 18, 2021 – Serie A 2020-21 Round 31
ATALANTA-JUVENTUS 1-0

SCORERS: 87′ Malinovskyi

REFEREE: Mr. Orsato from Schio 
NOTES: Yellow Cards: Gosens, Malinovskyi, Djimsiti (A), Bonucci (J); Extra Time: 1st Half 1′, 2nd Half 3′