MY ACCOUNT
Juventus missed the opportunity to go second in Serie A as they were held to a 1-1 draw away at Bologna on Sunday.
Second-placed Lazio were beaten 3-1 by Inter earlier in the day, yet Riccardo Orsolini smashed home a first-half penalty at Renato Dall’Ara to leave Juve fearing a fourth straight league defeat.
Those concerns were not helped when Arkadiusz Milik missed a chance to level from the spot, but he brilliantly fired in after the interval to deny Bologna a first Serie A win over the Bianconeri in 22 attempts.
Juve remain below Lazio and crucially just three points ahead of Inter, Milan and Roma in fourth, fifth and sixth, and they face a real dogfight over the final six games if they are to finish in the Champions League places.
The hosts were ahead after just 10 minutes, a lengthy VAR review adjudging Danilo to have brought down Orsolini before the winger picked himself up off the turf to thump his penalty into the bottom-right corner.
Lukasz Skorupski preserved his side’s lead with a sensational double-stop from Nicolo Fagioli, and the goalkeeper came up big again shortly after.
The referee initially awarded a free-kick after Milik was pushed over by Jhon Lucumi, but the VAR found the foul to have occurred inside the Bologna box. Skorupski was not fooled by the striker’s hop-skip-and-a-jump penalty technique, though, comfortably getting down to his right to save.
Milik was more ruthless in the second half, however, bouncing back from his poor spot-kick to brilliantly lash a first-time snap-shot into the bottom corner and level.
There were big chances at either end in the closing stages, but neither side could find a winner as Juve at least snapped their losing streak.
What does it mean? Juve’s poor form continues
Allegri’s men were boosted recently by a successful initial appeal of their 15-point deduction, taking them back into Serie A’s top four, but Juve’s poor recent results are putting their Champions League qualification hopes back under real threat.
They have won just one of their last eight in all competitions, and mid-table Bologna more than matched them here, outshooting Juve 17 to 14 while having more attempts on target than the 36-time Italian champions.
Milik shows character to bounce back
With an ankle sprain meaning Dusan Vlahovic was only fit enough to come off the bench, Milik was trusted to start up top for Juve, a decision that looked a poor one as his shocking penalty was saved by Skorupski.
But Milik, to his credit, showed a strong mindset to pick himself up and superbly fire in the equaliser, eventually making way for Vlahovic in the 83rd minute having recorded a game-high three shots on target and finding that all-important leveller.
Chiesa still struggling
Federico Chiesa still looks a long way from his best having only recently returned from injury, and he was hauled off in the 70th minute here without making much of an impact on the game.
The 25-year-old failed to hit the target with his only shot and managed just 33 touches while winning only three of his eight duels before Allegri finally saw enough.
What’s next?
Both teams are back in Serie A action in midweek, with Juventus hosting Lecce on Wednesday before Bologna travel to Empoli on Thursday.
