A moment of magic from super-sub Alvaro Morata was required to earn Juventus a narrow 1-0 victory against Palermo at Stadio Renzo Barbera on Saturday evening in Serie A.
The 22-year-old broke the deadlock 10 minutes after coming on with a delightful curled strike from just outside the area to rescue the points for the Bianconeri in a frustrating game with little in the way of goal action.
Aggression was the order of the day as both sides cancelled each other out for the majority of the game, and a consistent stream of fouls saw no less than six players receive bookings.
Franco Vasquez started things off with a sly trip on Stefano Sturaro, followed by Edgar Barreto who took plenty of Stephan Lichsteiner with a late sliding challenge.
Vasquez’s indiscretions were eventually punished with a yellow card for treading on Claudio Marchisio’s foot in a half where only two yellow cards seemed lenient.
In what was a fairly dull first half, Carlos Tevez tried to take the initiative 20 minutes in with a crack from all of 30 yards.
His swirling shot proved tricky for Stefano Sorrentino who couldn’t keep hold of it, but fortunately for him, Roberto Vitiello was on hand to clear the ball away.
Another foul on Pereyra five minutes into the second half gave the Bianconeri a good opportunity with a free kick 25 yards out.
The continued absence of Andrea Pirlo left Tevez to strike it and the Argentine’s curled effort to the far corner produced a superb save from Sorrentino, who dove to his right to keep the game goalless.
Andrea Barzagli joined the list of players cautioned straight after when he was forced to pull Paulo Dybala’s shirt to prevent the young forward racing away from him.
Morata replaced the forlorn figure of Fernando Llorente on the hour mark as Massimiliano Allegri hoped to inject some energy upfront, even if it meant risking Morata ahead of the crucial Champions League second leg against Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday.
The gamble paid off as the Spaniard finally produced the moment the game had been waiting for. Morata latched onto a well weighted pass by Marchisio and found himself with just enough space outside the area to side step Sinisa Andelkovic and send a beautiful low curling shot into the corner of the net.
Morata almost doubled the lead when he exchanged passes with Tevez down the left wing before marauding into the Palermo defence, but this time lacked the composure to finish as he shanked the ball over the bar.
Giuseppe Iachini’s men strived to find a way back into the game in the closing stages, but Juventus’ high line and intense pressure off the ball made it near impossible to string attacks together.
The game continued to follow the same pattern as it had before Morata’s goal with scraps of possession in midfield seeing the game meander towards a 1-0 finish.
