Juventus claim comeback win over Parma

Date: 21st April 2021 at 10:36pm
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Juventus fought from behind to claim a 3-1 win over Parma at the Allianz Stadium on Wednesday evening.

A stunning Gaston Brugman free-kick gave the relegation-threatened Gialloblu an unlikely lead in Turin, but Alex Sandro scored twice before Matthijs de Ligt sealed the points for La Vecchia Signora in the first half, giving them something to celebrate after a turbulent few days following the announcement and subsequent collapse of the European Super League.

Cristiano Ronaldo was hungry having missed out in the loss against Atalanta on Sunday, and it took a fine stop from Simone Colombi to deny him from close range early on, with the stand-in goalkeeper reacting excellently to deny the Portuguese.

With all that had gone on over the previous 72 hours, Parma taking the lead at the Allianz Stadium appeared to be something of a gift from the footballing gods, following on from Sassuolo’s spirited comeback win away to AC Milan earlier in the evening. The Crociati were awarded a free-kick early on and Gaston Brugman excellently sent an unstoppable shot past a helpless and unmoved Gianluigi Buffon.

But Juventus are rarely beaten easily, and the still-reigning champions fought back. A corner ended up falling to the edge of the area, from where Matthijs de Ligt offloaded to Alex Sandro and, after a touch to set himself, he smashed home a fine leveller to send the sides in at the break on even terms.

Having equalised two minutes from the end of the first half, the Brazilian put Juventus ahead two minutes after the restart for his first brace in Serie A. Juan Cuadrado looked to find Paulo Dybala in the centre, but having passed the Argentine the ball was nodded in by the wing-back at the back post.

Buffon was beaten again by Yordan Osorio with a thumping header, but the veteran ‘keeper had Arthur Melo to thank for being placed to head the Venezuelan’s effort off the line.

Defending set pieces has been a problem for Parma all season long, and they conceded to another to put the game out of reach. Cuadrado whipped in from the left and De Ligt met it at the near post to head past Colombi.

Yann Karamoh came off the bench and, with his first touch, forced Buffon to turn his headed effort over the crossbar. Mattia Bani was unmarked from the resulting corner but headed way over.

Juventus move within a point of fellow former Super League members AC Milan and temporarily ahead of Atalanta, though La Dea can go second with a win at Roma on Thursday.

 

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