Juventus ground out a fourth Serie A victory on the spin as they edged AS Roma 1-0 in Turin.
The Bianconeri’s winner came in the first half in an incredibly fortunate fashion. Rodrigo Bentancur was the beneficiary of Mattia De Sciglio’s superb cross from the left, but his header only reached the goal via the inadvertent touch of Moise Kean.
Roma should’ve had an equaliser through Tammy Abraham before half-time but referee Daniele Orsato had already blown for a penalty on Henrikh Mkhitaryan. As luck would have it, Jordan Veretout’s spot-kick was comfortably saved by Wojciech Szczesny.
The visitors pushed in the second half but to no avail, as Juve’s deep block held firm to seal a 1-0 triumph.
Here are our Juventus player ratings from Sunday night’s victory.
Goalkeeper & Defenders
Wojciech Szczesny (GK) – 8/10 – This redemption arc! After a horrible start to the campaign, Szczesny deserved a night like this. After saving well from Gianluca Mancini early on, the Polish international produced the key moment in the match as he saved Jordan Veretout’s penalty.
Danilo (RB) – 6.5/10 – The Brazilian demonstrated his intelligence and adaptability on Sunday night, as he switched between a right-back and right centre-back throughout amid Juve’s flexible defensive structure. It was a tough job, but one Danilo performed astutely despite clearly being exhausted following his recent South American ventures.
Leonardo Bonucci (CB) – 7/10 – Abraham has certainly earned the respect of Bonucci, who looked petrified every time the Englishman ran at him. He struggled one-v-one but defended the box brilliantly. His diagonals are a cheat code, too.
Giorgio Chiellini (CB) – 8.5/10 – A horrible error in possession led to Roma’s penalty and the veteran didn’t look comfortable with the ball throughout. He defended the box as adeptly as ever, though, and produced a couple of crucial blocks to preserve Juve’s lead. It was a monstrous defensive effort from the Italian stalwart. Vintage stuff.
Mattia De Sciglio (LB) – 7.5/10 – Who knew he had it in him. The typically conservative De Sciglio performed a role that resembled Alex Sandro’s this season. His aggressive positioning and final third presence paid off early on as he set up the opener with a wicked cross, and he remained a pest in the final third throughout. More of that please, Mattia.