Juventus settles the Italian summit with Roma and approaches Inter
Juventus won the eighteenth stage of the Italian Football League against its guest Roma, 1-0, on Saturday, at the Allianz Stadium in Turin, and regained the two-point difference between it and the leaders Inter.
French international midfielder Adrien Rabiot scored the only goal in the 47th minute.
It is the second successive victory for the “Old Lady” team and the thirteenth this season. It took advantage of Inter’s stumble against its host Genoa 1-1, and restored the difference between them to two points after coach Simone Inzaghi’s men had raised it to four points in the sixteenth stage, when they took advantage of Juventus’ stumble against Genoa. Especially with the same score 1-1.
Juventus raised its score to 43 points, compared to 45 for Inter, while Roma fell to seventh place after its score froze at 28 points.
Roma started the match strong, led by its playmaker returning from injury, former Juventus midfielder, Argentine international Paulo Dybala, after recovering from injury, and Brian Cristante almost did it with a powerful shot from inside the area that bounced off the left post (4).
Serbian international Dusan Vlahovic responded with a powerful shot from outside the area that passed near the left post (9), and the same player manipulated Roma’s defense and penetrated into the area before shooting wide of the goal (12).
Turkish Kenan Yildiz almost did it from a counterattack when he manipulated Roma’s defense and shot a powerful, creeping ball from outside the area near the left post (29).
Dybala responded with a wonderful shot from the outside of his left foot that passed just past the right post (32).
Ivorian defender Ivan Ndika saved Roma’s goal from an achieved goal by heading a strong ball from Croatian Filip Kostic from close range (43).
Juventus succeeded in opening the scoring at the beginning of the second half when Rabiot received a backheel ball from Vlahovic at the edge of the area, so he penetrated into it and played it with his left hand to the right of Portuguese goalkeeper Boy Patricio (47).
Roma players angry at the loss (Reuters)
Dybala almost equalized with a deceptive shot from outside the area that was blocked by Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny (71).
Patricio saved Roma from the knockout goal by blocking a shot from close range by American Weston McKinney, following a pass from Federico Chiesa before the defense dispersed it (84).
Both Milan and Atalanta regained their balance with a hard-fought victory over their guests, Sassuolo and Lecce, with the same score, 1-0, while Udinese put the brakes on Bologna’s awakening when they honored their team with a clean hat-trick.
In the first match at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Milan waited until the 59th minute to open the scoring when the Algerian international, Ismail Bennacer, passed a ball creeping into the area. Brazilian substitute defender Rowan Trisoldi tried to cut it off, but he prepared it for the American Christian Pulisic, who penetrated without supervision, so he followed it up with his right from a distance. Close to the right of goalkeeper Andrea Conselli.
Milan, which suffers from many injuries among its ranks, did not show a convincing level and its attackers failed to create many chances, especially the Portuguese international winger Rafael Leao.
The Lombard team played with great caution, especially since Sassuolo defeated them 5-2 on the same stadium in the twentieth stage of last season.
Milan achieved the most important thing by winning the three points, making up for its disappointing 2-2 draw with host Salernitana in the last stage.
Coach Stefano Pioli’s men took advantage of the stumble of their neighbor Inter, the leaders, against their host Genoa, 1-1, on Tuesday, at the opening of the stage, and reduced the difference to nine points between them, reviving their slim hopes of competing for the title.
In the second, at the “Giois Stadium” in Bergamo, Atalanta took advantage of Roma’s loss and rose to sixth place with a hard-fought victory over its guest, Lecce, 1-0, compensating for its loss to Bologna with the same score in the last stage.
In turn, coach Gian Piero Gasperini’s team benefited from Napoli, the defending champion, being content with a goalless draw with its guest, Montsa, on Friday, to advance the southern team by a point and the same over Roma.
Atalanta owes its ninth win of the season to Nigerian Ademola Lookman, who scored the only goal of the match in the 58th minute with a shot from outside the area, inflicting only their second defeat on Lecce in the last seven stages and sixth this season, so their score froze at 20 points in thirteenth place.
Gasperini praised his team, which “played a good match, as was the case against Bologna (in the previous stage) before we suffered an undeserved defeat (0-1),” adding to the “Dazone” streaming network: “We suffered in the last ten minutes, and Lecce deserves it.” Notification for what he did.”
Lookman’s goal was his last contribution to the team before he left to participate with his country in the African Cup of Nations scheduled for Ivory Coast starting January 13.
Gasperini touched on this issue, saying, “Unfortunately, Lookman will travel (Sunday), but we have (Colombian Luis) Morial, (Gianluca) Scamacca, (Belgian Charles) de Ketelaar, (Russian Alexei) Miranchuk, (Mali Bilal) Toure. It will be an opportunity for them to get more time on the field.
He continued: “I do not want to say that I hope Nigeria does not achieve a good result, but of course I hope that Lookman’s absence will not be long. “More than anything else, we hope he doesn’t get injured.”
In the third match at the “Dacia Arena” stadium in Udine, Udinese stopped Bologna’s remarkable awakening in the recent period, when they honored their team with a clean hat-trick scored by Argentine Roberto Pereira (23), Lorenzo Luca (48), and the other Argentine, Martin Bayero (52).
It is the first loss for Bologna in its last six matches in the league, and the seventh in various competitions in a series during which it achieved five victories, the most notable of which was stripping Inter Milan, the league leader, of its title as champion of the cup competition, when it defeated them in the San Siro 2-1 after extra time in the round of 16. Then on Atalanta in the last stage.
Bologna was satisfied with one win in its first six matches of the season, which was at the expense of Cagliari 2-1, after which it returned to a draw in three consecutive matches, before it rose up and achieved eight victories in 12 league matches, during which it suffered one loss, which was against its host Fiorentina 1-2.
Bologna failed to regain fourth place from Fiorentina, which won over Torino 1-0, on Friday, at the opening of the stage, after its score froze at 31 points and fell to fifth place, two points behind the Florence pole.
On the other hand, Udinese breathed a sigh of relief with only its second victory this season and the first in its last seven matches, specifically since beating its host Milan 1-0, in the eleventh stage on the fourth of last November.
Salernitana followed Udinese’s example and achieved its second victory this season when it defeated its host Verona 1-0, scored by Frenchman Lom Chauna in the 48th minute.
Salernitana remained in last place with 12 points, compared to 14 for Verona, 17th.
Cagliari tied with Empoli 0-0.
2023-12-30 23:18:08
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