Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri delivered his verdict on a hard-fought 1-1 draw in a mouth-watering Serie A fixture against Atalanta. The Bianconeri were on the cusp of going home empty-handed, but they managed to grab a last-gasp equaliser to maintain a decent domestic form.
Atalanta were a far better side in the first half, but they failed to capitalise on their chances. Luis Muriel’s inexplicable miss in the 33rd minute, coupled with Jeremie Boga’s disappointing final touches on the stroke of half-time, helped Juventus carry parity into the break.
And it feels like Allegri’s team talk in the dressing room sparked the visitors into life in the second half. Juventus enjoyed a strong start to the second period, putting Atalanta under severe pressure from the onset.
However, the final touch let them down one too many times as Dusan Vlahovic and Alvaro Morata squander several decent opportunities. When it looked like Juventus were on the verge of breaking down La Dea, Gian Piero Gasperini’s men shifted momentum to the opposite direction.
Second-half substitute Ruslan Malinovskyi made light work of Matthijs de Ligt in the middle of the park before forcing the Bianconeri centre-back to commit a silly free-kick. The Ukrainian playmaker took responsibility himself, scoring arguably one of the best goals this Serie A campaign to fire Atalanta in front midway through the second half.
The hosts had a glorious chance to put the game to bed, but Hans Hateboer failed to hit the empty net from close range in the 85th minute. The Dutchman’s epic miss was brutally punished late in the injury-time as Danilo connected his header with Paulo Dybala’s perfect corner-kick delivery to save Juventus at the death.
Even though his men once again failed to shine against high-profile opposition, Allegri hailed Juventus’ performance in Bergamo.
“It would’ve been disappointing to lose a game after playing so well,” he told DAZN, as relayed by TUTTOmercatoWEB.
“We made mistakes in our finishing and the final ball, there were three minutes of terror just before half-time on the counter after we lost the ball cheaply and De Ligt threw himself in the way twice.
“The second half was better, paradoxically when we were meant to score, we got the pass wrong, Atalanta were on the counter and Malinovskyi did well to win that free kick. It was an extraordinary goal and Danilo scored a great equaliser.“