SPICE – Juventus won 4-1 when they visited Spezia in the 2020-2021 Italian League sixth giornata. Cristiano Ronaldo, who returned to the field after suffering from Covid-19, performed brilliantly by scoring two goals.
The course of the match
First round:
Juventus immediately tried to play an attacking game as soon as the match started. Having possession of the ball, Andrea Pirlo’s squad locked the Spezia defense and looked for scoring opportunities. However, Alvaro Morata’s effort in the sixth minute failed.
Juve’s efforts finally paid off in the 14th minute. Danilo gave Weston McKennie the through ball, who ran into the Spezia penalty box.
Instead of kicking the ball straight into the net, McKennie prefers to provide a short pass to Alvaro Morata who is standing free on his left. Without significant difficulty, Morata converted these opportunities into goals. Juve lead 1-0.
Five minutes later, Juve had another golden opportunity. This time Federico Chiesa only had to face the goalkeeper of Spezia after receiving Morata’s pass. Unfortunately, Chiesa’s kick was still slightly off the left of the host’s goal.
In the 23rd minute, Morata made a solo run, dribbling from the middle of the field to the Spezia penalty box and scored a goal. However, this goal was disallowed because Morata was already in an off-side position when he got the ball in the middle of the field.
Spezia then equalized to 1-1 in the 32nd minute. Paolo Bartolomei gave Tommaso Pobega a short pass in the middle of the penalty box. The loan player from AC Milan immediately greeted him with a horizontal kick that lodged in Gianluigi Buffon’s goal.
At the end of the first half, Juve got a chance through McKennie who was offered a sweet bait by Morata. However, the American player’s kick could still be blocked. In the end, the first half ended with a score of 1-1.
Second round:
Entering the second half, Spezia tried to step on the gas. Without a doubt they invaded the Juve defense and applied various pressures. Unfortunately, nothing resulted in a goal, including a long-range shot from Bartolomei in the 52nd minute.
In the 56th minute Juventus put Cristiano Ronaldo on to replace Paulo Dybala. This is Ronaldo’s first match since testing positive for Covid-19 on October 13, 2020.
The result was immediately evident, three minutes later, Ronaldo scored to give Juve a 2-1 lead. CR7 received Morata’s breakthrough bait and immediately ran into the Spezia penalty box. Ronaldo had a chance to nibble Spezia goalkeeper Ivan Provedel before hitting the ball into the net.
Juve further away when the match entered the 68th minute. The reason is, Adrien Rabiot scored a goal for the Bianconeri to change the scoreboard to 3-1. Rabiot managed to get past the Spezia defender and then fired a shot at Provedel’s goal.
Ronaldo scored his second goal in this match in the 74th minute. The captain of the Portuguese national team successfully executed a penalty that Juve got into a goal after Federico Chiesa was violated in the forbidden box. Even more impressive, the goal was scored with a Panenka shot. 4-1 score lasted until the game was over.
The composition of Players:
Spice: Ivan Provedel; Salvador Ferrer, Claudio Terzi, Julian Chabot, Simone Bastoni; Paolo Bartolomei, Matteo Ricci, Tommaso Pobega; Daniele Verde, M’Bala Nzola, Diego Farias.
Proposal: Titas Krapikas, Nahuel Esteves, Lucien Agoume, Emmanuel Gyasi, Luca Mora, Luca Vignali, Alessandro Deiola, Cristian Dell’Orco, Simone Bastoni, Rafael, Kevin Agudelo, Roberto Piccoli.
Juventus: Gianluigi Buffon; Juan Cuadrado, Merih Demiral, Leonardo Bonucci, Danilo; Weston McKennie, Arthur, Rodrigo Bentancur; Paulo Dybala, Alvaro Morata, Federico Chiesa.
Proposal: Carlo Pinsoglio, Manolo Portanova, Wojciech Szczesny, Gianluca Frabotta, Dejan Kulusevski, Adrien Rabiot, Cristiano Ronaldo, Federico Bernardeschi, Aaron Ramsey.
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