Arturo Vidal Pays Penalty as Juventus Miss Golden Chance to Extend Serie A Lead

Juventus travelled to Cesena on Sunday, hoping to continue the excellent form that they have shown since the start of the new year. With two comfortable wins seeing them ease into the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia, the Bianconeri entered the Dino Manuzzi on an unbeaten run in Serie A which stretched all the way back to October.

Playing on Sunday evening meant the game was the last of the round, and as kick-off time approached, Massimiliano Allegri and his players would have been aware that AS Roma had once again dropped points.

That meant the capital club have now won just a single game on their last six outings, with Juve given the opportunity to further distance themselves from the chasing pack as the Champions League once again comes into view.

Allegri has constantly discussed the importance of going as far as possible in Europe, and the comfortable lead Juventus enjoy atop the Serie A standings will allow him to rest his stars ahead of next week’s last-16 meeting with Borussia Dortmund.

At his press conference on Saturday, the coach promised that Juventus “won’t be rotating the starting line-up but will send out the best possible team,” against Cesena—per the club’s official website—and he would be true to his word. Missing leading scorer Carlos Tevez through suspension, the only other notable absentee was central defender Giorgio Chiellini who was rested in favour of Angelo Ogbonna.

That meant Gigi Buffon would play in his 375th league game for Juventus—seeing him climb to third in the club’s all-time appearance chart—while Nicola Leali would start opposite him in goal for Cesena. Seen as a future Italy No. 1, the 21-year-old is currently on loan from the Bianconeri, but surprisingly he would not be the first to be called into action.

The fiery atmosphere inside stadium inspired Cesena, and the team ran hard at Juve from the outset, Gregoire Defrel drawing two smart saves from Buffon in the opening 10 minutes. Ze Eduardo would also test the Bianconeri skipper, before Milan Djuric gave the home side a surprise lead after Andrea Pirlo gave the ball away.

Those early scares appeared to spark the visitors into life, with Paul Pogba once again the driving force behind everything positive from the reigning champions. It would be his cross that found Alvaro Morata at the near post, the Spanish striker making no mistake with a smart header to level the scores.

Claudio Marchisio’s gamble led to a second goal shortly after, the midfielder pouncing to knock the ball past Leali, and from there the first half would peter out. The second would begin at a far less frenetic pace, Juventus looking to exert some control over their opponents, but Cesena would find an equaliser through a well-taken Franco Brienza strike.

With the Juve defence struggling to contain the effervescent Djuric, but Arturo Vidal would miss the chance to restore Juve’s lead from the penalty spot after a handball from Stefano Lucchini. Just as he did in the Champions League against Olympiakos, the Chilean would fail under pressure and still looks short of his best form.

With the Bianconeri struggling to unlock a resilient Cesena side, Allegri would throw on Simone Pepe and Kingsley Coman to help in the desperate search for a winning goal. None would arrive, however, and Mimmo Di Carlo deserves immense credit for the way his side executed his intelligent game plan.

The eventual 2-2 scoreline means that the gap to Roma remains seven points, though the Giallorossi will need to improve quickly if they are to mount a credible challenge. Juve’s desire to succeed in Europe could aid the capital club’s cause, as they host Turin giants in between the first and second legs of that vital clash with Borussia Dortmund.