Bologna: Bologna held 10-man Juventus to a 1-1 draw in their Serie A clash on Wednesday, inflicting a blow to the faltering title hopes of Antonio Conte's side.
Marco Di Vaio netted his ninth goal of the season just 17 minutes in to give the hosts a surprise lead, but Mirko Vucinic was on hand to spare the blushes of the Bianconeri, scoring a sublime equaliser to keep his team's unbeaten run intact.
The match began in rather uneventful fashion, as both outfits struggled to get a foothold in the game. An alarming lack of guile in each final third made for a turgid opening 15 minutes, but in an instant, a poor piece of Juventus defending saw the arrival of the first goal.
Stephan Lichtsteiner's naive attempt to play an offside trap failed miserably, as Gaston Ramirez's piercing through ball saw Di Vaio race onto his strike partner's delivery and finish with aplomb past Gianluigi Buffon to make it 1-0 to the Rossoblu.
The half wore on with Juve trying hard to get into their stride, but their passing game was sorely lacking in invention. A succession of long balls to frontmen Vucinic and Marco Borriello summed up their performance in a nutshell.
Fortunately for purists, and Bianconeri supporters, the game opened up in the second half as the tempo was raised several notches. Diego Perez's stinging drive shortly after the restart was a sign of things to come.
Andrea Pirlo could be credited as a catalyst for Juve's much-improved showing, as his classy brand of playmaking saw him direct the majority of his side's moves, including the all-important equaliser on the hour mark.
His inch-perfect ball found an onrushing Vucinic, who delightfully chipped over Jean-Francois Gillet to throw his team right back into the reckoning with little over half an hour to go until the final whistle.
However, Claudio Marchisio missed a golden chance to make it 2-1 with a free attempt from close range, firing straight at Gillet after the keeper had superbly parried Borriello's header. The ex-Roma hitman then fluffed a tap-in opportunity after good work from Simone Pepe to drill the ball in low and hard.
Drama was to ensue though, as firstly coach Conte was given his marching orders after voicing his displeasure to the fourth official, before Leonardo Bonucci also headed for an early bath after cynically fouling Gaston Ramirez to collect a second yellow card.
Neither side could find the winner in the latter stages, giving Bologna a vital boost in their hopes of securing their place in Serie A next season. Juventus, however, now sit two points behind leaders AC Milan after 26 games, 13 of them having resulted in draws.
Comments
0 comment