Juventus pulled it off again and they are still the undisputed champions in the city of Turin, but seriously risked losing the bragging rights on Saturday afternoon after going down 0-1 to Torino in the Derby della Mole.
Andrea Pirlo managed to steer back on track a game the Bianconeri had started dreadfully, conceding the first after just eight minutes and failing to trouble goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu for the whole first half.
In the end, they managed to come from behind with substitute Weston McKennie and captain Leonardo Bonucci, though their comeback seemed more a product of Torino’s inability to preserve their lead than of the Old Lady’s pressure.
Right, Torino. Torino and their manager Marco Giampaolo are really in trouble now. Giampaolo’s position was already precarious before the derby and, if a loss to their dominating cross-town rivals could be considered acceptable until a few hours ago, the way the Granata seemed to throw the match away will elicit more doubts about his permanence at the helm of the maroon side of Turin.
Pirlo, on the other hand, has little to be happy about. At half time, the 41-year-old seemed also on the verge of being put in question as his side had appeared totally uncapable to trouble the opposition. To the coach’s credit, there’s a double substitution in the middle of the second half that put McKennie and Alex Sandro on the pitch, switching from a three to a four-man defense and eventually prompting Juve’s one-two, but questions remain about this Juventus’ real potential.
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— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) December 5, 2020
There were no big surprises in either lineup with both sides wearing a patch commemorating the 50th anniversary since the birth of the Piedmont region.
The surprises came from the pitch however, as the Derby della Mole began in a way that few could have expected, with Torino lifting themselves ahead just eight minutes into the game. It was Nicolas Nkolou to find the winning deflection from a Christian Ansaldi corner kick, with Soualiho Meite fumbling the ball past Rodrigo Bentancur and setting the Cameroonian free to shot.
Torino built on their good momentum and a couple minutes later it was Simone Zaza’s turn to go for the kill, but the former Azzurro found Wojciech Szczesny ready to do his job and push back his effort. The Granata’s build-up was also excellent, with Lyanco snatching the ball in his defensive third and then Andrea Belotti serving a glorious filtering pass for Zaza’s shot.
Confidence kept growing among the Granata ranks, and Lyanco even took the luxury of going for a long-range shot that didn’t end too far from Szczesny’s right post.
All Juventus could produce in the first half was an unpretentious Paulo Dybala shot, which Salvatore Sirigu had no problem to defuse, and some protests over an alleged Ansaldi handball in Torino’s box – though the Brazilian’s arm seemed close to his body.
On the other hands, it was Torino come again closer to scoring before half time, with Chrstian Ansaldi crossing the ball from the left side and prompting a fantastic Andrea Belotti volley which didn’t manage to find the goal target but elicited a round of applauses from the few spectators on the Allianz Stadium stands.
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— Torino FC English (@TorinoFC1906_En) December 5, 2020
Here's our team for the 6pm Torino derby!#JuveToro#SFT pic.twitter.com/1VRjkYSyNj
In such situation, there was only one way the shaky Pirlo side could draw level – by means of a one-off episode. On 56 minutes, Juan Cuadrado pounced on the ball after the Torino defense cleared from a corner kick. The Colombian found the right spot between a forest of legs but the VAR nullified his winning effort on grounds of Leonardo Bonucci’s offside position as he interfered with the shot.
After sending in Aaron Ramsey in place of Dejan Kulusevski, Pirlo came up with the changes that would steer the game into Juve’s direction, with Weston McKennie and Alex Sandro replacing Adrien Rabiot and Danilo.
He had to wait only a few minutes for his move to bear fruit. On 76 minutes, Cristiano Ronaldo set Federico Chiesa free but Sirigu kept his concentration high and denied his shot. From the subsequent corner kick, however, Juventus finally had parity as McKennied headed home a Cuadrado lob cross to wrap his first Serie A goal – one of massive importance for the Bianconeri.
After conceding an equalizer, Torino started to stagger in defense as Juventus’ pressure piled up. The way Giampaolo’s side seemed to panic whenever the ball was in their defensive third was a clear presage.
With just one minute to go, Cristiano Ronaldo served Dybala with a brilliant cross from the right but Lyanco managed to delay the inevitable by a few seconds with a superb clearance to deflect La Joya’s shot into corner. From the following effort, another ball would be whipped by Cuadrado into the Granata’s box, finding the Torino defense again unprepared and Leonardo Bonucci’s headed conversion.
Torino saw their lead vanishing for the third time this season after allowing to comeback Inter and Lazio in the past few weeks. Juventus had the merit of keeping their cool and eventually pulled it off like great teams do, but what a wasted chance for the Granata…
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— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) December 5, 2020
MATCH REPORT
December 5, 2020 – Serie A 2020-2021 Round 10
JUVENTUS-TORINO 2-1
SCORERS: 9′ Nkoulou (T), 77′ McKennie (J), 89′ Bonucci (J)
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JUVENTUS (4-4-2): Szczesny; Cuadrado, De Ligt, Bonucci, Danilo (71′ Alex Sandro); Kulusevski (57′ Ramsey), Bentancur, Rabiot (71′ McKennie), Chiesa; Dybala (92′ Bernardeschi), Cristiano Ronaldo (Pinsoglio, Israel, Arthur, Da Graca, Dragusin, Frabotta, Portanova) Coach: Pirlo |
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TORINO (3-5-2): Sirigu; Lyanco, Nkoulou, Rodriguez; Singo, Meité, Rincon, Linetty (91′ Segre), Ansaldi (94′ Bonazzoli); Zaza (75′ Gojak), Belotti (Rosati, Milinkovic-Savic, Bremer, Izzo, Lukic, Edera, Vojvoda, Vianni, Buongiorno) Coach: Giampaolo |
NOTES: Yellow Cards: Kulusevski, De Ligt, Cuadrado (J), Lyanco, Lukic, Bonazzoli (T); Extra Time: First Half 1′, Second Half 7′
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