Juventus stumbled out of the gate in their match against Sassuolo, ultimately suffering a shocking 4-2 defeat. The Bianconeri appeared to have made a strong start as Adrien Rabiot came close to scoring from a free-kick but missed the target. However, Sassuolo quickly took control, seizing the lead in the 12th minute, serving as a wake-up call for Juventus.
In the 21st minute, Juve managed to level the score with an own goal from Matias Vina. Despite dominating possession, they struggled to find a second goal. Manuel Locatelli missed a golden opportunity at the half-hour mark, increasing the frustration within the team, which resulted in a deserved yellow card for Adrien Rabiot.
Dusan Vlahovic had his chance to put Juventus ahead with a header that narrowly missed. Sassuolo, on the other hand, capitalised on their opportunities, with Domenico Berardi scoring a sweet strike just a minute later. Juventus had a shout for a penalty in the 44th minute, but VAR did not award it after a review.
In the second half, Max Allegri made substitutions, bringing on Samuel Iling-Junior and Nicolo Fagioli for Filip Kostic and Fabio Miretti. Sassuolo continued to compete for possession, resulting in yellow cards for Danilo and Berardi.
Allegri made further changes, including bringing on Timothy Weah for Weston McKennie. Juventus increased the pressure, but Vlahovic missed another excellent chance. Despite earning two corners in quick succession, they couldn’t break Sassuolo’s defence.
With Vlahovic being subbed off for Moise Kean in the 76th minute, Juventus aimed to regain control. Federico Chiesa managed to score the equaliser in the 78th minute, but the lead was short-lived as Andrea Pinamonti netted Sassuolo’s third in the 82nd minute.
Allegri then substituted Manuel Locatelli for Arkadiusz Milik to bolster the attack. Sassuolo made changes to maintain a fresh lineup and defend their lead. They frustrated Juventus with time-wasting tactics, leading to at least six minutes of added time.
In the final minutes, Federico Gatti scored a bizarre own goal, inadvertently passing the ball into an empty net after Wojciech Szczęsny’s pass. At this point, Juventus simply wanted the game to end. After eight minutes of added time, the referee blew the final whistle.
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Juve FC says
That was woeful, Sassuolo deserved the win that is for sure, they dominated the midfield throughout and every time they attacked they looked like scoring.
Vlahovic was poor and questions must be asked about his suitability at the elite level, Rabiot was anonymous for large parts of the game and seemed to have an adversity to using the wings, Bremer was all over the place, Gatti looked lost, I could go on but what’s the point apart from Chiesa the whole team was simply lacklustre.
Allegri also has questions to ask, the buck stops with him and this sort of defeat is simply unacceptable.
Based on today’s performance, it is going to be a long hard season.
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Today’s performance particularly in the second half, was uninspiring to watch. The team was distabilized with some players losing concentration especially in midfield, hence putting much pressure on the defenders. Great play by Chiesa and Mckennie, hard luck to Szcezny and Gatti.