Comfortable victory, routine win, dominating performance… these are are some of the terms that have apparently escaped the book of Juventus FC.
These days, every outing is a struggle and every win is to be celebrated as the taste of victory has become hard to come by.
On Sunday night, Juventus made life difficult for themselves when hosting Salernitana at the Allianz Stadium, because that is simply what Juventus do nowadays.
After trailing 0-2 at half-time, Gleison Bremer pulled one back for the Bianconeri early in the second, but we had to wait until the 93rd minute for a clumsy equalizer, as Leonardo Bonucci pounced on the rebound of his own missed penalty.
A minute later, Arkadiusz Milik stole the headlines by snatching dramatic winner, sending the crowd into a frenzy. But then of course VAR called the referee for a review and they decided to disallow the winner due to an offside call on Bonucci, promoting a chaotic ending marked by a plethora of red cards.
While we try to avoid never-ending debates regarding refereeing decisions, the majority of observers felt it was a harsh call.
But truth to be told, Juventus hardly deserved to escape with all three points following another disheartened display simply because they decided to wake up in the dying minutes.
At the end of the day, a point is exactly what we deserve on the back of this uninspiring display.
Now here are some quick takeaways from the Sunday’s action:
- For the second time in five days, Juan Cuadrado struggled to cope with a younger and more energetic left wingback (it was Pasquale Mazzocchi this time). Expectedly, La Vespa needs more rest at the age of 34, even though we lack options at the moment.
- Alex Sandro Sandro didn’t look too terrible when he came fresh off the bench. Perhaps his issue is physical more than anything else, as he simply doesn’t have much in the tank these days.
- Dusan Vlahovic is supposedly our best freekick and penalty taker. Yet, he was pushed away on both occasions, or maybe decide it himself. Either way, it turned out to be fruitless and awkward decisions.
- Someone should tell Moise Kean that pushing his opponent to the ground isn’t a proper way to defend. Frustrating.
- Milik should start more matches while Fagioli must receive more playing time.