Juventus edged out Roma for a 1-0 win at the Allianz Stadium in the Serie A round of 18 derby. In the last 7 games between the two sides, Max Allegri's side have won for the sixth time.
Adrien Rabiot brought the three points for the "Bianconeri" with a goal in the 47th minute. Thus, the "Old Lady" again came within two points of the leader Inter, who stumbled yesterday against Genoa (1:1).
The first opportunity opened up for the "wolves" in the 4th minute. A powerful shot by Brian Cristante ricochets off Vlahovic's body and then off the post. In the 12th minute, three Roma defenders failed to stop Vlahovic, whose shot, however, went wide of Rui Patricio's goal.
In the 19th minute, only the excellent intervention of the visiting captain Gianluca Mancini kept the scoreless draw. Dusan Vlahovic was at the center of events in the 27th minute when he tried a spectacular backscissor, but the ball did not find the outline of the goal. The visitors responded with a spectacular left-footed shot from Paulo Dybala that sent the fans in the stands into a tizzy, but to their delight the shot went wide. Two minutes before the break, Evan N'Dika saved Roma from a sure goal. He headed in front of the goal line a bomb shot by his former teammate from Eintracht - Filip Kostic.
The second half began with a flying start for the "Bianconeri", after Adrien Rabiot opened the scoring two minutes after the break. Dusan Vlahovic, who distinguished himself with an assist, was given a huge credit for the goal. Rabiot received the ball on the edge of the ambush, but a VAR check showed that he was in a regular position because of N'dika's shoulder - 1:0.
Jose Mourinho tried to change his team's play by bringing on Lorenzo Pellegrini in place of Edoardo Bove, but that didn't have the desired effect either. It wasn't until the 71st minute that Paulo Dybala received a comfortable ball in front of the penalty area and technically directed it into the bottom right corner of Szczesny. However, the Polish goalkeeper of Juventus was careful and did not allow himself to be surprised.
The hosts squandered a great opportunity to close the match in the 84th minute. Federico Chiesa broke down the left and with an excellent ground pass he found Weston McKenney in the box as well. The American shot without delay, but Rui Patricio showed his class and saved. Four minutes later, Chiesa's goal was disallowed for offside. In the final minute of regular time, Sardar Azmoun headed Juventus' goal but too low to trouble Wojciech Szczesny. /BGNES
