Juventus vs. Torino: Andrea Pirlo's Brilliance Decides Difficult Derby Encounter

Sunday’s Turin derby looked almost certain to end in a draw, with the scores tied at 1-1 and Juventus down to ten men. However, that changed when Arturo Vidal rolled the ball invitingly to Andrea Pirlo on the edge of the Torino box.

It was the goal of a million childhood dreams: time running out in a closely-fought local derby, one chance to win the match from outside the box, a swing of the boot and the ball nestled in the bottom corner of the net.

Game over.

It was a goal of stunning beauty—one which will live long in the memory of supporters on both sides (and another highlight to add to the extraordinary career of its author). With his wonderful sense of timing, the 35-year-old kept the home side’s winning streak alive. The Bianconeri have now been victorious in the last 26 outings at Juventus Stadium.

He also ensured Torino’s poor record in the Derby della Mole continued (their last victory came in April 1995). Yet the goal—and the match itself—also drew a line under a number of other continuing storylines surrounding the two teams.

In the first half, Bruno Peres ran from his own penalty area and smashed a well-hit finish across Marco Storari and in off the far post. Thanks to that fantastic solo effort, the Brazilian ended the Granata’s goal drought in the fixture by netting their first goal against their neighbours since February 2002.

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That 23rd-minute effort pulled the two sides level (Vidal had ended his own lean spell in front of goal with a penalty just eight minutes earlier). Pirlo’s free-kick was blocked by Omar El Kaddouri’s arm in the wall and the referee awarded the spot-kick, which had to be retaken due to encroachment on the first attempt.

With a goal and an assist, the Chilean will hope his poor run of recent form—discussed in detail here—has come to an end. But even he was happy to admit the victory was thanks to Pirlo. “It was all Andrea’s doing, all I did was tee him up,” Vidal told reporters, per the official Juventus website. “He’s an incredible player, and only he could have scored that goal.”

It is difficult to argue with that assessment, but Pirlo too will hope the match signifies the end of his own personal slump of failing to live up to his previous high standards. Statistics from WhoScored.com show he is averaging fewer tackles, interceptions and passes per game than in his first three seasons in Turin. He was also notably poor against Malmo in midweek.

Losing the ball cheaply on several occasions, he failed to provide the incisive passes that have become his calling card. But Sunday’s match-winning performance—delivering when La Madama needed him the most—proved once again that writing off the former Milan star is foolhardy in the extreme.

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Who Scored shows Pirlo has averaged 1.3 tackles, 0.8 interceptions and 67.2 passes per game this season, completing 87.3 percent of those efforts. Yet the same source shows that against Torino he delivered a vastly improved display, making two tackles, two interceptions and 91 passes (his completion rate leapt to 93.4 percent).

With Stephan Lichtsteiner sent off following his second yellow card, it was a superb collective effort from Juventus—capped perfectly by Pirlo. He summed up the feelings of Juventus supporters everywhere shortly after the final whistle, discussing the dramatic victory with Sky Italia.

“It’s wonderful to win a derby at the last second, and especially when you are down to 10 men,” Pirlo said via Football Italia. “It’s a great satisfaction.” On a night when that wonderful swing of his right boot ended so many recent storylines, another of his team-mate's boasts looked perfectly timed.

“We don’t play the Derby della Mole, we win it!” bragged Fernando Llorente on Twitter in the buildup to the game. Thanks to the continued brilliance of Pirlo, the belief of the Spanish striker was proven to be almost as well-placed as the match-winning shot.