25 October 2014
With the 2012/13 campaign edging ever closer to its culmination, Juventus were eager to wrap up their second consecutive domestic title with Napoli breathing down their necks. Standing in their way on that May afternoon in Turin were a Palermo side languishing in 18th position and determined to beat the dreaded drop to Serie B. It looked to be a tall order for the Rosanero, tasked with overcoming a Bianconeri outfit in the midst of a seven-game winning streak during which they had only conceded twice. Dominating possession from the off, Juventus fashioned the brighter opportunities in what was a low-key first 45 minutes. In the early exchanges, Andrea Pirlo picked out Kwadwo Asamoah with one of his trademark cross-field passes. Having controlled the ball expertly, the Ghanaian beat his marker Nelson and shot across Stefano Sorrentino who palmed the ball away from danger. Asamoah was causing more problems in the Palermo mixer on the quarter-hour mark when his left wing cross was only cleared as far as Arturo Vidal, who took one touch to set himself before slicing his half-volley wide. It took the Bianconeri almost half an hour before they tested the Palermo shotstopper once again. Stephan Lichtsteiner’s exquisite slide-rule pass picked out Mirko Vucinic who had made a great run down the channel. Under pressure from the covering defender, the Montenegrin struck his effort towards Sorrentino’s goal from an impossible angle and the goalkeeper had to sort his feet out before pushing the ball away with his legs. Juventus began the second half in the same way as the first but were almost caught cold when ex-Bianconeri striker Fabrizio Miccoli weaved his way into the area and fired a shot towards Gigi Buffon’s goal which took a nick off Giorgio Chiellini before bouncing back off the post and away from danger. The breakthrough finally came on 59 minutes when Vucinic was barged off the ball by Massimo Donati in the Rosanero penalty area, prompting the referee to point to the stop. Vidal stepped up to send Sorrentino the wrong way and in the process, give Juventus a slender, yet deserved advantage. The goal sent the home crowd into delirium and it was almost two moments later. With the ball only half-cleared to goalscorer Vidal, the Chilean swung in an inviting cross met by Chiellini who rose unchallenged but was unable to steer his header on target. Palermo almost equalised with 20 minutes remaining when substitute Abel Hernandez latched on to Nelson’s square pass but the Uruguayan's venomous effort curled just wide of Buffon’s post. On the 80-minute mark, Fabio Quagliarella – who had replaced Vucinic only 60 seconds earlier - unleashed an arching shot from the edge of the Rosanero area that had Sorrentino beaten all ends up but smacked against the crossbar. With the upright still shaking, Paul Pogba then juggled his way past the Palermo backline before firing across goal. Sorrentino, however, had other ideas and saved once again before gathering Federico Peluso’s attempted follow-up. A late sending off for the young Frenchman failed to mar the Scudetto celebrations as Andrea Romeo’s final whistle signalled a 31st Serie A title with three games to spare.
Relive the Bianconeri's 1-0 win over Palermo in our exclusive match highlights:
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