Full-Time 5th Edition - Juventus vs. Venezia
(Source:CBSSports.com)
Match Recap
The Old Lady entered this weekend with a golden opportunity to continue their climb to the top of the Serie A table. Coming off two consecutive wins over both Salernitana and Genoa, Juventus looked to keep the momentum going as they traveled to Venice to play Venezia. It turns out that the traveling was the most enjoyable thing to come from Saturday's trip to Venice, as Juve arrived for the game via a boat ride. Other than their stylish arrival, there was not much else to smile about for fans of the Bianconero. The reason for the disappointment is one that has become all too familiar for Juventus and its fans. More dropped points once again! Newly promoted Venezia are a team with some young talent, however these are the sorts of matches that Juve can ill afford to keep losing points to bottom-half sides. Juventus once again dominated possession of the ball, but that wasn't enough to get the job done. The Spaniard striker, Alvaro Morata, got back onto the scoring sheet as he managed to re-direct a ball into the back of the net in the 32nd minute. However, the advantage would not last long as Juve conceded just ten minutes into the second half, allowing Mattia Aramu of Venezia to score a brilliant equalizing goal. Although the technique on the goal was great, Juventus shot themselves in the foot with their poor defending. Two words you'd never think to hear together when referring to Juventus, "poor" and "defending". However, this may have been the case with the Juve of old, however the impenetrable defense that had guarded the city of Turin over the past decade is no longer present. Sloppy and sluggish play has become commonplace from the fullbacks, in particular the incosistent defensive play from Alex Sandro and Juan Cuadrado. Cuadrado however has been given more leash due to his strengths in the attack. Neither of the two veterans were starting in this match, as they were replaced by Mattia De Sciglio and Luca Pellegrini. Both players played fairly mediocre matches and didn't contribute much, aside from Pellegrini's shot that was deflected into goal by Morata.
The frustration continued for Juventus as they saw Paulo "La Joya" Dybala sent off yet again with an injury. Although the player was able to walk off the pitch under his own power, the Argentinean only last 12 minutes into the contest before suffering the injury. This has been a recurring problem with Juve's star player, as he has struggled to stay healthy, missing considerable chunks of the season over the past couple of years. Despite losing Dybala early in the game, Juventus still produced 6 shots on target and had their fair share of opportunities. But, in typical Juventus fashion (as of late), they failed to capitalize on any of the chances they had to score another goal. Juve had the chance to move into 5th place, just outside the top 4 Champions League spots. But instead they drop points again, to a team that is battling to stave off relegation. Now in 6th place, Juve needs to regroup once again. A bitter taste left in their mouth after seeing both Napoli and Lazio lose on Sunday, a monumental opportunity squandered.
Standout Players
This week's list of standout players will be quite the short list. For starters, the center-back pairing of Leonardo Bonucci and Matthijs De Ligt stood strong for the duration of the game, and had a handful of clearances that kept the game from getting even further out of hand. The most notable performance of the match was striker, Alvaro Morata. This is a big improvement for him, given he spent the past two weeks on the "Hot Seat" list. He played hard and with plenty of energy. He also finally got back in the goal scoring column, and had a handful of chances where he almost scored more than once.
In the Hot Seat
The only entry in this list after this week's match is Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri. The players played average at best, but the team were deprived of Dybala after just 12 minutes and the starting 11 was missing several usual starters. This ultimately falls upon the shoulders of Allegri as the coach. The team continues to drop points against bottom-half teams and this is unacceptable. Hopefully the esteemed coach can remedy these problems soon, as time is beginning to dwindle for Juventus to make the surge towards the top of Serie A.
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