Roma vs. Juventus: Score and Reaction from 2015 Serie A Match
AS Roma grabbed their first win of the Serie A season on Sunday, beating defending champions Juventus 2-1 at the Stadio Olimpico. The Giallorossi dominated from start to finish and fully deserved the win over a thoroughly disappointing Bianconeri squad.
Miralem Pjanic opened the scoring with a textbook free-kick in the second half, and Edin Dzeko added a second goal late in the match. Paulo Dybala restored some hope in the final minutes of the match, but it was all for naught. Patrice Evra was sent off for Juventus.
The Old Lady has now lost her two first matches of the season, a dreadful start to her bid to win a fifth straight Serie A title.
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Dybala and Mario Mandzukic started up front for the defending champions, who were still without star midfielders Claudio Marchisio, Kwadwo Asamoah and Sami Khedira, while Francesco Totti started on the bench for the Giallorossi.
Juventus have struggled early in the 2015-16 campaign, and Roma were determined to take the match to the Bianconeri early. Within the first minute there were penalty appeals after Mandzukic appeared to clip Alessandro Florenzi's heels inside the box, per ByTheMin Serie A:
Dzeko did a wonderful job presenting the Roma midfielders with a target near the box, and the Giallorossi completely overran Juventus' midfield. Mohamed Salah, who embarrassed Juve last year while on loan with Fiorentina, teed up Florenzi beautifully, but the Italian dragged his shot wide.
Paul Pogba is yet to find his form, and it showed when he blasted a shot miles wide of the goal before pulling down Salah to earn the first booking of the match. Dzeko nearly tapped home a cross but came up just short, and while Roma blogger Julian De Martinis was enjoying the dominant display, he was hoping for a better end product:
"This is fantastic stuff but meaningless largely without a goal. Or three.
— Julian De Martinis (@JulianDM11) August 30, 2015"
Dybala was one of the few Juventus players who managed to impress, and with Roma pressing high, the Bianconeri defence started playing more physically in an attempt to clear their lines. Radja Nainggolan loves nothing more than to battle it out in midfield as well, and per FourFourTwo's Adam Digby, the match soon started to get out of hand:
As a result, the pace of the match dropped, and chances became few. At half-time, the score was still 0-0, with Roma dominating but failing to find the opening.
Juventus fans voiced their disappointment on social media, but Digby reminded them all of the score:
The Bianconeri came out with a little more intensity in the second half, and Martin Caceres had the first shot on goal, firing a volley over the bar. Pogba continued to struggle, however, and was lucky not to get sent off after committing several cynical fouls in the first 10 minutes.
As the half progressed, Roma started upping the pace again, and Gianluigi Buffon had to make his first vital stop to deny Dzeko. Minutes later, Pjanic produced a stunning free-kick to open the score, giving the veteran goalkeeper no chance.
Buffon never even moved as the ball was lifted perfectly over the wall, and David Amoyal, a translator for Gianluca Di Marzio, made the comparison to free-kick wizard Andrea Pirlo, who left the Bianconeri for New York City FC this summer:
Juventus tried to answer, but their midfielders continued to struggle chasing down the ball. Pogba came close with a header off a corner, having decided he'd be more of a threat inside the box as opposed to taking the set pieces himself.
On the other side of the pitch, Nainggolan had a go from a long way out, drawing a fine save from Buffon.
Things went from bad to worse for Juventus, as Evra was booked twice inside a span of minutes, earning himself a red card for his efforts. The second foul on Juan Iturbe was completely unnecessary, giving the official no choice but to send him off. Freelance writer Paolo Bandini thought it was a clear sign the upcoming Serie A season could be quite different from last year's:
Dzeko doubled Roma's lead almost immediately after, using his strength to hold off a defender and heading the ball past Buffon.
Iago Falque almost made it 3-0 with a hard, angled shot, and there didn't appear to be any hope of a Juventus comeback. But Dybala caused a late panic among the home fans, tapping home from close range after a great cross from Roberto Pereyra. Juventus couldn't find a second goal, however, leading to mad celebrations at the Stadio Olimpico when the final whistle blew.
The Bianconeri will have a chance to bounce back from this defeat when they host Chievo in Week 3, and after two embarrassing losses, Massimiliano Allegri's men are in dire need of a win to find some momentum.
Consistency has been a major issue for Roma in the past, as well as the inability to beat the top teams in Italy, so Sunday's win is a huge in terms of mental impact. Rudi Garcia's men now know they can beat Juventus, who have dominated Italian football for the last four years. A meeting with Serie A newcomers Frosinone should lead to another three points in Week 3.
Post-Match Reaction
As shared by Juventus' official Twitter account, Allegri praised the spirit his players showed near the end of the match but admitted he has plenty of work to do:
Roma summer signing Antonio Rudiger couldn't hide his excitement with the win:
