Torino Dream with Sanabria but Cristiano Ronaldo Saves Juventus

One would wish the Derby della Mole between Juventus and Torino was always so balanced and entertaining. After years of almost unilateral Bianconeri domination, the Granata managed to hold Juve to a draw after losing the first leg of the Turin stracittadina only at the last minute.

A Tonny Sanabria brace turned around Federico Chiesa’s initial lead and made Torino fans dream before the “usual” Cristiano Ronaldo goal – his 24th in this campaign – sorted things out for Juventus, sparing Andrea Pirlo a second league loss in a row that would have opened many questions about his future.  

But the problems are anything but solved for the incumbent Italian champions, who came up with another disappointing performance and were leapfrogged by Atalanta in the third place of the table. Torino, on the other hand, got a good boost of morale in their battle for safety, which they now lead two points clear of Cagliari.

Home coach Davide Nicola resorted to Andrea Belotti and Tonny Sanabria on the front line, powered by trequartista Simone Verdi. In his usual 3-4-1-2 lineup, the central midfielder were Tomàs Rincon and Juventus-owned Rolando Mandragora, with Mergim Vojvoda and Christian Ansaldi covering the flanks.

In what was yet another different starting lineup for the 41-year-old coach, Andrea Pirlo was forced to “invent” Danilo as a central midfielder to obviate his multiple absences in the middle of the park – including “party animals” Arthur and Weston McKennie.

?| STARTING XI

Here's our starters for the Derby?#ToroJuve#SFT pic.twitter.com/t3ueDQF41g

— Torino FC English (@TorinoFC1906_En) April 3, 2021

The two sides of Turin shared the spoils in the first half as Juve had the upper hand in the beginning while Davide Nicola’s side came alive later in the period.

A demonic Federico Chiesa on the left-hand side led the charge for the Bianconeri, first releasing Alvaro Morata for a close-range shot that found Salvatore Sirigu’s opposition, and then testing the Granata keeper himself with a central conclusion from a Cristiano Ronaldo service.

Just after Torino protested for a suspicious Matthijs De Ligt tackle in the box, Chiesa fired Juventus in front at the end of an unstoppable progression into Torino’s box, ending with a fine shot between Sirigu’s legs. The Italian jewel received the ball from Alvaro Morata but needs to be given full credit for the Bianconeri‘s opener.

But the deficit woke up Torino and the Granata had their equalizer on 26 minutes as a deadly long-range shot from Rolando Mandragora triggered Wojciech Szczesny’s ineffective clearance. Tonny Sanabria was faster than Alex Sandro to pounce on the ball and head it home, making it 1-1. 

? ⒷⒾⒶⓃⒸⓄ???? ??#ToroJuve #FinoAllaFine #ForzaJuve pic.twitter.com/q49j8TCT9v

— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) April 3, 2021

Sanabria became the Man of the Derby right after the restart, taking full advantage of Juventus’ sloppy defending. Dejan Kulusevski came up with a terrible pass back into his own half which the Paraguay international had no problem in intercepting.

Szczesny did even worse than that as he was surprised on the near post by Sanabria’s angled conclusion. Juventus found themselves down 1-2 just 30 seconds into the second half.

Federico Chiesa’s right foot continued to be the most dangerous thing coming from Juventus but his dangerous effort on 50 minutes was deflected just wide away by center-back Alessandro Buongiorno. And when Cristiano Ronaldo tried to serve the specialty of the house, Sirigu managed to finger away CR7’s trademark header.

This guy ?? @TSanabria9 #ToroJuve#SFT pic.twitter.com/MGHHfsRldT

— Torino FC English (@TorinoFC1906_En) April 3, 2021

Juventus’ nervousness was evident in a reckless Juan Cuadrado tackle on Simone Verdi that earned the Colombian a yellow card but was perhaps a good candidate for a direct red. Ronaldo’s next header effort crashed above the bar, leaving the score unchanged.

Pirlo went for a desperate move by changing his right wing-back Federico Bernardeschi took Kulusevski’s spot. The change somehow sorted an effect as Bernardeschi put his stamp on Juventus’ equalizer, triggering the free-kick from which Cristiano Ronaldo headed the ball into the back of the net. 

It took a couple of minutes of VAR consultation before the goal was allowed as the Portuguese star initially seemed to be offside.

With Juventus now pushing for the three points, Salvatore Sirigu had to stretch his left arm to palm away a dangerous Rodrigo Bentancur shot. But Torino were not done yet either and a brilliant piece of play just before full time gave Tonny Sanabria a chance to wrap an incredible hat trick, but his header was just a few inches too high. 

The last emotion of a vibrant Derby della Mole was a Daniele Baselli free kick that offered Wojciech Szczesny an occasion to redeem himself as he pushed the ball away to keep the score at 2-2.

 

MATCH REPORT

April 3, 2021 – Serie A 2020-2021 Round 29
TORINO-JUVENTUS 2-2

SCORERS: 13′ Chiesa (J), 27′ Sanabria (T), 46′ Sanabria (T), 80′ Cristiano Ronaldo (J)